Reverse Tale
by EllinianBoy
Summary: An emperor and a thief. Neither of them would even dream for their paths to cross, but fate had other plans. What will happen when they meet? Only fate and probably the transcendants would know. PhantomXAria.
1. Prologue: Phantom

**A/N: This story was inspired by the idea of TheHeartStealer's story, Undying Love (Just to let you know, I am NOT copying him/her. The story is just too great to copy and I plan on bringing this story in my own direction). If you have never read it before, you should check it out. I honestly don't know how far I'll go with this and don't know when I'll update it, but for now, unless otherwise requested, it'll probably stay as a two-shot.**

* * *

Nighttime, the time of day when the strong male citizens of the poor and rugged city of Ariant usually made their move on the castle's riches. Many of them wondered why the royals were living a life of such luxury while the citizens were forced to live a life harsher than that of peasants. Many of them protested, yet all of their calls were unheard and in vain. The sultan and his wife were just too concerned for themselves to think of their suffering people. Somewhere in time, it came to a point where citizens decided to do something about it. If they couldn't get it by asking nicely, they'd have to take it by force. The people had been suffering for so long, and they did nothing to deserve such torment. Thus began the strategic raid of duty bandits in the palace at night. If you were lucky, you'd be able to steal a hug sack's worth of gold and use it to leave your homeland in search of a better life, or use it to raise your family and the rest of your people. Nobody in the palace would notice a huge sack's worth of missing gold anyway. Such was true for this group of bandits that had just stolen three huge sacks worth of gold and were on their way out of the palace.

"Come on, what's taking you all so long? We only have so many hours of darkness!" one of the bandits said.

"Hey! Unlike you we're trying to be cautious! You never know what monsters are lurking in the palace!" the others said.

"Oh, don't be foolish! We all know all of the people in the palace hate monsters! Even their useless guards would turn tail and run once they see one! Now hurry up! We're almost at the exit."

One by one, all four bandits rushed soundlessly over the palace's gates and hurried back to the hot city. Light was beginning to rise behind the mountains, so the bandits had to make haste toward home, otherwise there would be a high possibility that they would be caught by the palace guards, and who knew what would happen next if they were caught. As they got closer and closer to home, one of the bandits abruptly stopped in his run.

"Everyone, wait!" he whispered.

"Oh what is it now?! Can't you see we're in a hurry?" the others whispered.

"I think I heard something, or someone!"

"Oh, you think?! Is that why we were stopped?! Because you THINK you heard something?!"

"Shhh! Listen. It sounds like a cry."

And listen they did. It took them a while to focus, but sure enough, they heard it too.

"…ahhh…wa...aahh…ahh…wahh…"

"What is that?" they asked.

"It sounds like it's coming from near that little cactus." One of them said.

"I'll go check it out. You guys go on ahead without me."

"No. We're in this together. Nobody gets left behind. Let's all go toward the cactus, but with haste. Daylight is just a few moments away." Another bandit said.

So together, they made their way to the cactus, and as they got closer, they could hear the sound more clearly.

"Waaahhhhh…waaaaaahhhhhh…waaaaaahhhhh!"

"What is that? How could it make so much sound at night?" one of the bandits asked. When they arrived, what they saw shocked them to say the least.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

"A…baby?" they all asked. There it was, a little baby boy with grayish-blonde hair snugly wrapped in cloth.

"That's strange," one of the bandits said, "it's only early spring is it not aren't children in this desert land usually born in late fall or winter? Spring is when the heat gets close to its harshest and usually no child would be born during this time because they'd usually overheat and die if they were born, but…where are its parents?"

"We don't know, we don't know." They all replied.

"We can't just leave him here all alone though." The bandit said, picking up the baby. "Poor child, to be left alone in the desert and unable to fend for itself. Who could be so cruel as to leave their own child, much less here?"

While the bandits pondered on what to do, they did not realize that they had totally forgotten about their mission of escape, and the appearance of the sun over the dunes served as a reminder.

"Quick! We must hurry back to the city! We'll decide on what to do with the child later, but for now, let's hurry back!" And then they left, this time, bringing more than just gold with them.

When they had arrived to their home city, the bandits were greeted with cheers and applause by the people. Very few were able to successfully steal from the palace, and those that were brought home riches, but not enough to support the entire residency of the city, which was very low in number, even for city standards. This heist brought back three huge sacks of gold, enough to support more than just the population and help the people move out of the city. However, this time, they realized that the bandits had brought home something else, or someone else.

"Say, what do you have in the little in that sack of yours?" A citizen of Ariant, named Jasmin, asked one of the bandits.

"Oh this?" the bandit in question replied, "I found this child while on the way back. I felt so sorry for him that I decided to take him home."

All of Ariant was shocked.

"A child in Nihal Desert during this season?"

"Poor boy! What was he doing in the desert outside the city?!"

"What cruel parents would have done this to their child?!"

The bandits hushed the crowd and then brought up an important question to their people.

"The question that stands now isn't how or why he ended up here," they said, "the more important question is what we're going to do with him now that we have found him. Should we send him somewhere else in hopes that somebody else will pick him up, or should we raise him as one of our own?"

The decision was unanimous among the people.

"KEEP HIM HERE AND RAISE HIM!"

"KEEP HIM HERE AND RAISE HIM!"

"KEEP HIM HERE AND RAISE HIM!"

"Well, what other choice do we have?" the bandits asked nobody in particular.

And raise him they did.

* * *

Soon after the decision was made, the people decided to name the baby boy Phantom, for he had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, like what he was named after, and integrated himself into the daily lives of the people. All of the citizens took turns raising him. Men, women, children, Phantom grew up being loved by the people around him. Come late fall and early winter, the people started to struggle in raising the boy for these seasons were the seasons safest for childbirth, and the people took advantage of that knowledge. With so many children born, how could a little baby boy survive when his caretakers had children of their own to raise?

Yet he persevered, much to the surprise of the people, and grew up to be a healthy, smart, and kind-hearted boy. As a young boy, he learned to walk, talk, give, and most importantly, he learned of the corruption of those in the palace. However, despite this, he made one thing clear to the people: he did not like breaking laws, and wanted nothing to do with it. Yet this was precisely what the people of Ariant did to survive.

"_How did a boy with such a kind heart end up in such a cruel place like this?_" Many of the people would wonder. To them, he was like a blessing bestowed on the people by the goddess. He was full of smiles, courage, love, and always gave comfort to those who needed it whether or not it was intentional. Their pain was his own, and his pain was their own. They were one big family; that was what the people made clear to him, and that was what he lived by.

And when he was 8, he began to wonder, "_I live like everyone else, and I talk like everyone else. I was also found here…yet why do I look so different?" _He would sometimes ask the people he knew that raised him. He knew that they were not his parents or related to him in any way, but he wanted to know what set him apart.

"Why do you ask dear? Are you troubled by something?" Jasmin, one of the many who raised him and an armor merchant, asked.

"Well, no. Not troubled Miss Jasmin, but just curious. I realized that I have light skin and pale hair unlike my peers, and many have told me that's why I was so easily recognized. I'm also not related to anybody here. Why is that?" he asked.

Jasmin laid down her wares and bent down a little to meet Phantom's height.

"Dear, I'm sure you know that you were not born, but you were found in this harsh desert, right?"

She asked.

"Found?"

"Oh yes," she replied, "Eight years ago, when one of the sand bandits came home with his group, he brought you here. All of us were so shocked because he said he found you in the desert behind a cactus. Now do you know how dangerous that is, even for a baby boy? Anyway, since we did not know who your parents were, we then decided to take it upon ourselves to raise you."

"Oh…I see…" Phantom said. It was clear to him now; he wasn't one of them, despite how much he wished to be, and he was one of the reasons why their lives were so tough. He would forever be different.

Jasmin saw his sullen face and couldn't help but be sad herself, "Oh Phantom dear, don't let these facts put you down. Related to you or not, you're still family to us."

"But we share no blood ties among each other Ms. Jasmin, how am I family to everybody?" he asked.

"Now don't you go around with that mentality dear, you'll make all those around you worry. Listen to me dear, although you may not be related to any of us, that doesn't separate you from us and won't stop us from calling you family. We are family because we all share love, happiness and sadness amongst each other okay?"

Phantom's smile immediately returned. Ms. Jasmin was right, he figured, nobody treated him differently from the others, so what was there to be sad about. He was still Phantom of Ariant and nothing was going to change that.

Or so many people thought.

Life continued as usual until one day a young man with blue hair and fancy white clothing appeared in the city. It wasn't difficult to tell he didn't belong in Ariant. He had a sweaty face, uncommon for a citizen of Ariant, and his skin color matched that of Phantom's. For some reason, the people had the strange feeling that he was going to take something or someone for them. His serious look made it all too obvious.

He made himself more suspicious when he asked Jasmin for a certain someone's whereabouts.

"Excuse me miss, my name is Neinheart and I'm looking for a boy with grayish hair, and amethyst colored eyes and was told that I could find him here. Do you know where he might be?" He asked.

"You must be talking about Phantom," Jasmin replied, "And what business do you have with him?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot say yet. I just need to talk to him."

Before Jasmin could retort, she had the unfortunate luck of Phantom appearing right then.

"How now, who calls?" he asked.

The mysterious man immediately approached Phantom, "Little boy, what is your name?"

Upon looking at the man's apparel, Phantom could tell that this man was one of royal origins, or at least it seemed so. He wasn't sure if this man could be trusted or not, but he decided to at least answer a simple question, otherwise it would seem rude.

"Phantom." He replied.

"Phantom, is it okay if I ask for a few minutes of your time? Ah but before that, let me introduce myself. My name is Neinheart, an ambassador and tactician from Ereve."

"Ereve?" Phantom asked.

"Yes, Ereve. I'm sure you've never heard of it before, but I assure you that it is a real place."

"I see…" Phantom then looked at the man's face and saw the sweat drenching the man's face. "You still have much to say, it seems, but before that, how about stopping at my place? You seem to be in dire need to shade and refreshments."

"Ah, yes! That would be quite delightful, thank you very much. I had no idea that the Ariant heat could be so intense."

Phantom gave a light laugh. "Well, we are in the middle of the season of summer, when the sun is at its fiercest after all. Can't take the heat?"

Phantom then lead Neinheart to a little house with a bed and several jars. He then grabbed a clay cup and poured some water into the cup and gave it to Neinheart. Neinheart greedily gulped down the water.

"Thank you very much. It's amazing… how do you all get such refreshing water during hot seasons?" he asked.

"Well, as you can see my people and I are not really living in favorable conditions. This also takes into account money and everyday necessities. If you look at the Ariant royalty, you'll see something completely different. The palace is located in an oasis, and in the palace, the sultan and his fairy wife are living lives of luxury, but that is only because they reap profits from huge taxes placed on trade, while us people are left to suffer. Because of this, many of us do what we can to keep ourselves alive, especially stealing. I don't steal anything, though. Although I don't approve of the royalty's actions, I also do not approve of stealing from them, so I usually get nothing. However, the people who steal still give me this water and everything I need because I am one of them and that is something that I'll forever be grateful for."

"I see…that's amazing." Neinheart said.

"How is it not?" Phantom asked. "I am related to nobody here, but yet I'm treated as family. I want to do the best I can to repay them all in the future. However, I fear I may never get the chance given my situation."

"Oh, but I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about you."

"Me?" Phantom asked.

"Yes. You are the one who is truly amazing here. To possess such a kind and loving heart while living in harsh conditions; not many people are like you. In fact, I don't think anybody is. Shinsoo was correct, such traits that you possess resemble that of Emperor Raven. You really are blood related, no matter how distant the relation."

Emperor? Raven? Shinsoo? This man was going too fast with his explanation. There were too many things Phantom wanted to ask. Who were these people and how did they relate to him?

"What are you talking about?" Phantom couldn't help but ask.

Neinheart then bent down to match Phantom's height.

"Phantom, this may be a little hard to take in, but I ask you to bear with me. I had trouble believing it myself, but after having this talk I am now certain that you are related to Ereve's former emperor, Emperor Raven, and Shinsoo has chosen you to become Ereve's new emperor. You are destined to be the new ruler of this world and are destined to be burdened with the responsibilities of keeping it safe."

"Wh-What?!" Phantom cried out. "Me? An emperor? That's impossible! I'm just Phantom of Ariant!"

Neinheart remained in his calm state of mind. "I know that this is hard to take in all at once, but I assure you that it's true. You have noticed that you are different from the rest of these people, correct?"

The man brought up a valid point. Even Phantom noticed it himself.

"But…if I become emperor I'll have to go away from here. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can accept. I do not want to become separated from my family and don't know if I'm ready for these burdens of being an emperor."

"You won't have to carry these burdens alone, Phantom. You have me and many other faithful knights to help you. And who said anything about being separated from your family? You'll have many opportunities to visit them."

"But Ariant royalty never leaves the palace…"

"Ah yes… but this is different. Not all royalty is corrupt, and there are many who are generous and loving towards their people. You are going to be similar to this kind of royalty, only greater."

"I…see." Phantom pondered for a moment. Here he was, just a little boy tasked with huge burdens and suddenly forced to face the fact that he had the blood of a royal in him. He was also given the chance to escape from a difficult life, yet didn't want to leave his family behind. Yet…perhaps this was a way for him to pay them back. Although he led a harsh life, he still loved people. His family taught him this, and it would stick with him forever in his heart. If he didn't do this now, the world would have nobody to turn to in their time of need and this beautiful world disappear. At last, he came to a decision.

"Okay…I'll do it. I will be the emperor of this world."

"A wise decision. Now that you have made your decision, I would like us to leave soon, as early as today in fact. I wouldn't want to keep Shinsoo worrying and certainly do not want all of Ereve to worry either."

"I understand…"

"Is there anything you would like to do before you leave?" Neinheart asked.

"Yes. If it's okay, I would like to say goodbye to my family."

"Of course. Take your time. I would like to stay in here, if you don't mind."

Phantom then proceeded out his door to be met with the curious and worried stares from those all around him. Immediately, the questions piled up.

"What did that man want?"

"Did he do anything to you?"

"Has he been telling you lies? He's royalty! Never trust him."

"Are you going away from us?"

Phantom didn't want to leave, but he had to make this quick. He now had duties to uphold.

"Everyone…" he started. As soon as he spoke, all of Ariant was silenced. "I-I would like to make an announcement."

"Oh of course! Everyone! Our little Phantom has to make an announcement! Bring him on the highest stand!"

When lead to the highest makeshift pedestal in Ariant. Phantom himself jumped onto the tall pedestal and tried to speak. For some reason when he tried to speak, he felt his throat being clogged, and his eyes becoming moist.

"E-Everyone…" he managed to say to the still crowd.

"I had…found out not to long ago… that I was not born here, but found in Nihal desert by our strong hearted bandits. I want to say that I am forever thankful to our Sand Bandits…for having such kind-hearts…and taking me into Ariant into the loving arms of all of you…for if not for you all…I would cease to exist," at this point, Phantom could hear some sniffles among the crowd.

"I also want to say…how thankful I am…to have been raised…*sniff"…by all of you. Despite being different…you all still raised me…despite the harsh realities you all had to face…and I am sorry for making your lives more miserable…than they already were…you all had given me so much…and I often questioned how I was going to repay your love…but-but I have found an answer. The kind man that I had just talked to…he revealed something to me…I am next in line to be the emperor of this world. He has revealed that I contain the blood of the former emperor, Emperor Raven…and it is my duty…to continue the line…and uphold the burden of protecting this world. I will become the emperor…and make sure that you all…and all the people beyond…will be safe and live comfortable lives. It…"

At this point, Phantom could no longer stop the flow of tears flowing down his face. He desperately wanted to stay, but knew that he couldn't anymore. He was an emperor now; he had to be strong. He used his rugged clothes to wipe away his tears and mustered all of his strength to say one more thing.

"It…It is as of now that I must bid you all farewell."

And then everyone erupted in a fit of tears.

"NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE!"

"NOBODY CAN TAKE AWAY OUR LITTLE PHANTOM! WHERE IS THAT MAN! WE WON'T LET HIM TAKE YOU AWAY!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING BACK TO US! JUST STAY!"

The men, women, and children all cried. Here, there were losing a loved one. The pain was hard to keep in, but Phantom had already made his decision. As soon as he had finished his speech, he ran into his house and grabbed whatever he needed to bring. Clothing, his worn out toothbrush, and water. It was all he had. He dried up the last of his tears before meeting Neinheart.

"Let us go. I am now ready." He said.

Neinheart simply nodded, and together they left the house and headed out of the town and toward the carriage that Neinheart had used to arrive. Before they had reached the carriage, they heard a voice.

"Wait!" it called. Upon looking behind, Phantom saw Jasmin running frantically toward them with something in her hand. When she had reached Phantom, she opened his palm and put the object in his hand.

"I…I wanted to give this to you during your birthday, but now that you are leaving, I figured it's best to give it now."

"Miss Jasmin, what is this?" Phantom asked, looking at the object, which was a purple jewel attached to a gold chain with a gold embroidery near the top of the jewel.

"I call this jewel here Skaia. While you grew up, all of us had used the palace's most beautiful crystals to make this jewel. We felt it had represented you best. Beautiful, valuable, and irreplaceable."

"Miss Jasmin I…I will keep this safe. I will never let it go!" Phantom said.

"I know you won't," Jasmin then gave a warm-hearted smile to Neinheart. "Please take care of our little Phantom. He is very young and inexperienced. I dearly hope you will help him turn into a loving emperor who is loved and respected by all the people around him."

"Do not worry miss, I will make sure he comes to no harm and becomes the best emperor there is." Neinheart bowed.

Jasmin smiled for one last time. "Now you go along now. I'm sure wherever you are going cannot wait."

With that, Phantom and Neinheart entered the carriage and headed towards Ereve. Surprisingly, the carriage was actually a little boat.

Phantom looked one last time back at the city he loved so much and heard farewells of all of the people.

"I WILL COME BACK! I PROMISE!" he yelled.

Nainheart smiled and ushered the creature operating the boat to go.

"Please bring our new Emperor to Ereve." He said. And soon the creature started to paddle, and the boat began to rise and fly into the sky.

Soon they had reached the floating island, and Phantom was astonished. So many people in armor, and so many creatures with feather, and so much _wind._

"What is this place?" he asked.

"This here, is where you will be residing from now on," Neinheart replied.

As soon as they saw him, all of Ereve knew and bowed down to their new Emperor.

"Welcome to Ereve, Emperor Phantom."


	2. Prologue: Aria

**A shorter one than my last chapter. Sorry about that, I'm actually just really eager to get on with the present part of the story now that I have the input of all of you lovely readers and reviewers :). Anyway, please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, It'll help me become a better writer.**

* * *

"Madam Aria! Please stop and return that! Those are for the guests!"

"Haha! No way! I'll only give it back if you can catch me!"

Throughout the halls of a mansion, a young girl sped through trying to escape the servants with a box full of jewels inside. In just barely a minute, she had reached the exit door of the mansion and quickly sped past them, now running into the crowd of people located in the town.

"Quick! She couldn't have gotten far! Let's split up and ask around for the madam's whereabouts!" One of the servants said. All of the others quickly agreed and went about in different directions, searching for their trouble-making madam.

Behind one of the town buildings, a young girl snickered as she saw her servants split up. None of them would find her, no matter how hard they would try.

Before she could turn around completely, she found her face quickly make contact with something feeling very peculiar.

"Oof!" she cried, as she started to fall back. Before her back could completely land on the ground, a hand grabbed her own and she was pulled back up slowly.

"My apologies. Please do be careful. Your clothes look very expensive. It would be a shame if they got dirty by the ground." A surprisingly feminine voice said.

Upon looking up, Aria saw that the person was female with a brown cloak covering everything below her neck and was wearing a hat with a peculiar design, almost like that of a bird.

"Thank you for grabbing me." Aria said.

"It was no problem. But anyway, what are you doing here, young girl? Shouldn't you be with your parents?" The stranger asked.

"I ran away!" Aria exclaimed in a whisper, "I took this too." She said, showing the box to the stranger.

"I see. And why did you do that?"

"Because it's fun!"

"So you steal for your own amusement. What a shame, you could have used your talents for so much more…" the stranger muttered.

Aria, not fully understanding what the stranger was saying, stayed silent.

"Well, it's about time I go," the stranger then started to walk out, "there are many vaults that are waiting for me."

"May I have your name?" Aria asked, "I'll ask my father to thank you saving me later. I'm sure he'll give you a generous reward."

The stranger chuckled. "Oh, I'm not so sure if your father will like me after he hears my name. But very well, I shall tell. Tell your father that it was Cygnus who saved you." And with that, the stranger disappeared in a flurry of cards, leaving one behind.

"Wow…" Aria was flabbergasted.

* * *

"CURSES! SOMEBODY GET HER! QUICKLY!" shouted several men, as they chased a thief carrying a sack down the halls of the mansion. Several more guards appeared ahead attempting to catch the thief, but the thief would not give them the luxury of the catch. From the thief's hand emitted a cane of some sorts, and in a simple, fluid horizontal swing, the entire line of guards blocking the path was sent flying. At last, upon reaching a probable exit, the thief turned around to face the guards whom were way far behind.

The voice that came from the thief was surprisingly female, with a mix of a smoky and silvery.

"So is this the best that this mansion has to offer?" she laughed, swinging the sack in front of the guards, "I can almost yawn at such poor competition!" She then used her cane to strike the glass exit door and jumped out of the second floor of the mansion. After landing, the thief looked up to see the chubby face of the mansion's owner filled with anger and worry.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?!" he yelled at his guards, "THAT SACK CONTAINS ALL OF MY PRECIOUS JEWELS AND GOLD! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?! DO SOMETH-"

The chubby owner suddenly found a beautifully designed card suddenly lodged in the handrail of the balcony he was standing on.

"AHAHAHAHA! Better luck next time, gentlemen! And by the way dear owner, if you don't want your valuables stolen next time, perhaps you should consider hiring _real _guards!" she laughed, as she soon disappeared in a cloud of cards, along with the mansion owner's sack of valuables.

The owner's rage never stopped growing as he desperately tried to crush the card he grabbed from handrail, yet failed miserably.

"CURSE YOU MASTER THIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEFFFFF!" he shouted to the sky.

I was time to hire some new guards and get rid of the useless ones.

* * *

Aria quickly found her feet on the deck of one of her most prized possessions, currently high above the ground and moving through the air where nobody except her fellow crewmembers could see her. Pushing open the gold doors, she walked into the interior of her ship and set gently down the sack of valuables on the ground as she sat down on one of the couches on her ship. Immediately, another door opened, revealing a butler walking towards the thief holding a cup of tea on top of a plate. The thief gratefully accepted the drink and drank it all in one gulp.

"Whew! Thank you, Gaston. I needed that." she said.

"You are very welcome, madam Aria, and welcome back! I trust you return fruitful from this heist?"

"Hah. A heist? All of this was practically given to me given that I had barely used any of my energy taking all of these things! To think that guards would do such a lousy job protecting items that are supposedly so important, it seriously makes me worry for the future. It will be so boring without competition! Didn't you say that this place would surely test my skills? You surely are wavering in your services, Gaston." The thief, now named Aria, said.

"Forgive me, madam Aria, it seems that you overestimate me. If I had to say anything about this, it would be that the security of valuables isn't necessarily lacking, but rather it would be you becoming more and more skilled at sneaking through barriers. Because of this, I am sure that sooner or later, there will be no chamber that you haven't broken it yet."

"Hmm…I guess you have point. I AM the Master Thief after all." Aria gave a short sigh, "I guess those are the drawbacks of being the best at what you do. You're practically unstoppable." She chuckled.

Gaston chuckled along with her. "Well you just keep telling yourself that, madam. In the meantime, it seems like I have my work cut out for me. Allow me to store these goods somewhere safe and soon I will have a new place for you to 'test your skills'." He said, as he made his exit while carrying the heavy sack of gold.

With nothing to do at the moment, Aria removed her signature hat, letting her long blonde hair wave freely, and casually walked around her flying ship, also known as the Lumiere. Upon arriving at the intelligence deck, she was met with her three intelligence gatherers, Colette and Christiane. Out of all of her crewmembers, those two were the most hardworking individuals Aria had ever known. They never hesitated to give all of the information regarding the area she was entering and the place she was stealing from. Sometimes, they gave _too much_ information, to the point where most of the information she was given was practically useless. Seriously, who would need information regarding how many books were inside the house of the person she was stealing from? Well, it's not like she needed any of the information anyway. Even without it, she would always find ways to break in, her job just would have been a _tad _tougher. Regardless, they were irreplaceable. If it were not for them, Aria wouldn't have been so notorious in many of her heists. She might not even have attained the infamous title of "The Master Thief" if it weren't for them.

"Good afternoon, madam Aria," they greeted, "A heist masterfully done, or would you rather not call it a heist, since you practically walked out of that mansion with ease." they said.

"Let's not ever call this a heist again, you two," Aria chuckled. "And please tell me that you two did not agree with Gaston when he said that such a place would pose as a challenge to me."

"Gaston told us not to tell," Colette, the blonde crewmember stated, "he said he wanted to give you a false boost of confidence in your skills."

"Oh is that right?" Aria scoffed, "It seems like he's forgetting the one who hired him. And I believe that the confidence that I have in my skills is very well established, thank you very much."

Christiane, the brunette intelligence gatherer, then perked up, "Well, if you are so sure, madam, then we might have just the place for you."

"Oh really? Do pray tell."

"Have you ever heard of the Skaia?" Christiane asked.

"Not at all. What is it?"

"Well, from what we have researched, it is a jewel that is carried by an emperor."

"Oh? And why have I never heard of this before? Since when did this man become emperor? And what is he the emperor of? Penguins? Because that's the only way he slips out of my attention." Aria scoffed.

"Actually…he's the emperor of Maple World. He became emperor at about 8 years old, and currently he's actually a bit older than you. Gaston once again told us not to tell you anything for the same reason..." Colette replied.

…

Aria chuckled. "Why don't you two tell Gaston that he will be getting his pay docked. Anyway, tell me more about this Skaia…"

Both of the intelligence gatherers smirked. This time, they made sure their madam would surely meet a challenge.


	3. Return

**The wait is finally over! Whew! Man, this was long. I hope you guys enjoy this reading this one, because I enjoyed writing it!**

* * *

Somewhere in the sky, there sat a lone floating island so far away that it evaded even the individual with the sharpest eyes. People flying by on their planes and different forms of air transport didn't really pay it any mind either. Even though they were in the air, they still could only get high enough to see the bottom of the island. There was probably no sign of life on the island anyway.

Those who thought such a thing were wrong.

On top of the island was a huge area of grassland decorated with beautiful flowers and architecture. Many birdlike creatures tended to their wares while the humans focused on their combat training. At the center of the top sat a huge building, similar to that of a mansion. Inside that building in one of the rooms on the second floor sat a blonde-haired man, currently tending to his duties by writing, in beautiful script, on a series of papers.

A knock on his door suddenly caused him to stop writing. Immediately the door to his room opened, revealing a man wearing all black clothing bordered with gold. Cape, shirt, pants, and boots. Only his mask showed some white.

"Emperor Phantom." the man bowed.

The man in the room faced his greeter with a smile.

"Yes? What is it Eckhart?" he asked, putting down his pen.

"The sky ferry is ready and filled with all of the things needed for the trip." The man replied.

"Oh is that right? Well, let us get going. We don't want them to keep them waiting now do we?"

* * *

Soon after reaching their destination, Phantom and his men took a carriage driven by camels. Next to him was Neinheart, his tactician, and behind him was Eckhart, the first and most loyal out of all of his knights. Feeling the tiny heat wave from within the carriage, Phantom opened the window to his carriage and once he felt the familiar feeling of sand grains hitting his skin, he knew they were near.

"Neinheart, could you tell the coachman to stop the carriage for a moment?" he asked.

Neinheart, knowing what the emperor wanted, asked the coachman to stop the camels, and in less than a second, the carriage stopped. With that, Phantom opened the door of the carriage and exited, placing his feet on the burning sand. He then walked up to the coachman and told him that he could continue riding towards their destination. As the carriage moved, Phantom walked alongside.

As they got closer to the town, the heat waves intensified, making the tactician and the knight sweat. The emperor, having been used to the heat, stayed the same and continued walking at an increased pace as they arrived closer to the town. It was only a matter of time before he saw his family again.

"Emperor Phantom, will you be alright? It's awfully hot here, especially since it is summer."

Phantom turned around to see Eckhart looking out of the carriage, maskless and drenched in sweat, with a look of concern over his face.

Phantom couldn't help but chuckle at his overly concerned knight. He had forgotten that it was Eckhart's first time accompanying him to his home visits.

"I'll be fine Eckhart. Rather, it's you whom I'm worried about. You're wearing all black. Are you sure you'll be fine like this? After all, the heat in the desert is very unforgiving."

Eckhart then put his mask back on. "This is nothing to me. I'm no knight of yours if I cannot handle petty heat like this."

"Well, if you say so. Remind me to give you water from the palace oasis. Oh! We're here."

Right then, the buildings of Ariant came into full view. Phantom was then hit with a wave of nostalgia. The sight of Ariantian people running around to do their business, trying to sell their wares, or other activities was just too much. It took all of his composure to stop his tears from falling down. It had been so long since he had been gone. He had visited before during his years as an emperor, but with his duties piling up, time became scarce. Daily visits then became weekly, then to monthly, then to yearly. Just last year, he was so busy that he didn't have time to visit _at all_. This was why he made sure he doubled the gifts that he wanted to give. As soon as he stepped into the town, all of Ariant stopped for a brief moment. Then, they all roared and applauded. At last, their beloved little boy had returned, looking stronger, nobler, and especially more handsome than ever. Phantom happily waved to the crowd, trying let them know how much he had missed them and how happy he was to be back.

Suddenly two ladies hastily rushed to Phantom and bowed. One had straight blonde hair tied into a ponytail and was wearing all black, including her mask, and one had wavy orange hair and was wearing a purple top and purple baggy pants, with her top being short enough to expose her belly.

"E-Emperor Phantom! Why didn't you tell us that you were coming?! We could have made preparations for your arrival!" They said.

Phantom just smiled at their desire to make his entrance fitting. They still insisted despite him telling them that they didn't have to prepare anything. "Hello Sirin, hello Eleska. You two are both looking as beautiful as ever."

Sirin and Eleska were two of the many who were born during the winter after Phantom was found and were two of the strongest women in Ariant. Both were in the group that was trying to liberate Ariant from the greedy clutches of its rulers, the Sand Bandits, and were very close to the emperor during their childhood. While they were young, they both often cherished the time that they spent with him, for he was a boy full of charms. Beautiful blonde hair, a kindred heart, and light skin, Phantom was the ideal man for many girls. Many of them decided that when the time came, they would confess. That is until he became emperor.

Both women blushed at Phantom's comment. Curse him for making them speechless with his flattery. The fact that he looked even more handsome than he did before made it even worse.

"E-Emperor Phantom…W-we…"

Phantom chuckled at their inability to look him in the eye. "Come now you too, I may be an emperor, but I'm still the Phantom that you guys all knew back then. There's no need to be so formal with me."

Both women looked at Phantom in disbelief. "N-Nonsense Emperor Phantom! You are the ruler of this world and it is imperative that we treat you as such. Even all of Ariant agrees!"

Phantom sighed at their stiffness. Not that he minded them treating him as such, but it seemed like they would never change, no matter how much he asked them to. Suddenly, a red-haired chubby man holding a spiked club rushed up to the three, panting.

"Ardin! You're late! How dare you be late in front of the Emperor!" Eleska, the blonde-haired woman, scolded.

"You two…seriously need…to give me a break…You know…I can't…be as fast as…you two." It took a while for Ardin to catch his breath, and when he did, he bowed down to Phantom so low that his fat caused him to fall down. Luckily for him, Phantom had quick enough reflexes to catch him before his body touched the hot sand.

"Whoa there, Ardin," Phantom said, as he lifted Ardin's sweaty body up, "Are you alright? You shouldn't really be doing such strenuous activity at this time. It's really hot, and I'd hate to see your body get burned by the hot sand."

Ardin bowed to Phantom again, only this time not as low. "Thank you, Em…I-I mean, Phantom! But please don't worry, I'll be fine. Hot sand is nothing to a Sand Bandit like me."

Phantom smiled at Ardin's casual address of him. Ardin was only a couple years older than Phantom and out of all the people, Ardin was the only one who had remembered Phantom's request to address him as such. "Ah! You remembered!" Phantom beamed, "Well that's good. It's nice to see that you are still strong despite these hardships. Well then, enough about that. There's something that I've been eager to give out to all of you." Phantom then walked back to his carriage and personally unloaded the cargo himself, revealing huge sacks twice as big as the sacks he used to give to the people during his previous visits.

Phantom then gestured to his tactician and knight as he grabbed a sack. "Neinheart, Eckhart, will you please help me distribute these goods to the people?"

"Of course, Emperor Phantom." They replied, as they themselves grabbed two or three sacks and started giving them to the families.

* * *

"Emperor Phantom, please let me take care of that." Phantom turned around and saw Eckhart gesture to the sack he was carrying.

"Oh no Eckhart, you don't have to worry about me. There's someone that I wanted to give this to." Phantom said.

"Then please let me carry it to that person. I'm sure the sack must be painful for you to carry."

Phantom internally sighed. Eckhart was no doubt the most loyal and considerate out of all of his knights, but sometimes he was just _too _considerate to the point where Phantom had to make it an order to make him stop doing certain things.

"Eckhart, how about you accompany me? Perhaps then you'll see why I am doing this." Phantom suggested.

The knight then bowed. "As you wish, Emperor Phantom."

As they made their way deeper into the town, Phantom stopped at the house containing shields and armor attached to it. As he stepped into the house, he saw a woman carrying her wares throughout the house. Upon seeing Phantom, the woman stared intently for a while, as if seeing someone familiar and trying to identify who the person she was looking at was. Barely after a second, the woman dropped her wares and embraced Phantom. Phantom, in turn, embraced her back tightly.

"You have returned." The woman said, while caressing Phantom's face and stroking his hair, "And you have come back even more handsome than ever."

"It has been too long, Ms. Jasmin." Phantom said.

"Yes. Although it has almost been two years, you have changed so much. Tell me, have Neinheart and your knights been serving you well?"

"Of course."

For a while Phantom and Jasmin conversed, recalling old memories and other old and funny topics. For a while Eckhart stared at the two, and then it all started to make sense. The caring gestures, the reminiscing, and most of all the informality with each other.

"_She must be the Emperor Phantom's past caretaker. That must be the reason why he personally wanted to carry the sack himself." _Eckhart smiled at the scene. It was rare to see the emperor smile so widely. In fact, this was probably the first time Eckhart had seen the emperor so happy before. While the two conversed, Eckhart removed the contents from the sack and placed them all organized in an area that he saw fit. No sooner than he had finished did Phantom and Jasmin finish talking. Phantom's eyes lit up, as if he had just remembered something that he had forgotten to do.

"Ah! That was very rude of me. Ms. Jasmin, I would like to introduce you to Eckhart, my-"

"The first and most loyal of all your knights." Jasmin finished with a smile.

Eckhart, speechless and surprised by the recognition, bowed to the elder woman.

"I remember many years ago, not long after he had been made emperor, little Phantom was telling stories about a powerful wandering night lord he found whom had lost his way. At first I had a hard time believing it, but now that I look at you, I see that our little Phantom was telling the truth." Ms. Jasmin said with a smile, "Tell me, has little Phantom been giving you a hard time?"

"Of course not miss," Eckhart replied with a smile, "A kind, mild-mannered, and strong individual like the emperor would never give anybody a hard time. If anything, I consider it an honor to be in his presence."

"Is that so? Well that's good. I'm glad that he is strong and kind enough not let luxury corrupt him." Jasmin nodded her head while Phantom chuckled. "Well, I think its best that you two get going. News has come around stating that the queen has been sending spies into the town because the Emperor always manages to escape her. If you all get caught, you'll be forced to acknowledge her and listen to her constant boasting. Now I'm sure you all do not want to give that luxury now do you? Especially since she'll be meeting the emperor."

"Oh is that so?" Phantom chimed in, "Well if that's the case then we best get going. I'd rather not meet the queen who forced so many of my fellow people into poverty." Phantom then embraced Jasmin one more time for the day and exited the house. As Eckhart also prepared to leave, he gave another bow to Jasmin.

"Please excuse us Miss Jas-"

"Please wait, Eckhart." Jasmin said, grabbing his hand.

"Yes? What is it, Miss Jasmin?"

"Please…make sure my little Phantom comes to no harm. He has done nothing to deserve it especially when carrying all of the burdens of this world. It would be too much for him to bear. Can I trust you to protect him?"

Without hesitating, Eckhart nodded his head. "Don't worry. I'd be ready to sacrifice myself for the emperor if the time ever comes. I'll make sure he'll never be scratched."

Jasmin sighed in relief. "Good. Thank you."

"Eckhart! Let's go!" Phantom waved to the night lord. Eckhart gave one last bow to Jasmin before joining the emperor.

As they walked they saw all of the people in their own homes excitedly counting mesos, eating most of the food that was in the sack they were given, and trying on new clothing. For each person they passed by, they received words of thanks, praise, and countless bows.

As they made their way to the airport, they were met by Ardin, Eleska, and Sirin.

"Emperor Phantom," they said, as they bowed, "we see that you are leaving. Would you perhaps like something before you leave?"

Phantom paused for a minute. He turned around and looked at Eckhart, then back at the three, and then snapped his fingers.

"Ah! If it's not too much trouble, could you please give me some water from the palace oasis? This is my knight's first time here and I'm sure the heat must be unbearable for him."

"Of course Emperor Phantom! Here take this flask. We brought it just in case you might need it."

"Ah you three, always so trustworthy and prepared. You have no idea how glad I am that you three are here." Phantom said, as he gave the flask to Eckhart, who refused to take the flask.

"No-no, emperor Phantom. I'll be fine."

"Come now, Eckhart. Sweat is all over your face. Look, even your armor is soaked. Just take it Eckhart, and don't make me make this an order."

Eckhart sighed in defeat, and gratefully accepted the flask. As he drank, he immediately felt the cold water travel down his body, instantly cooling down all of his body. He didn't know how long it took for him to drink all of it, but before he knew it, all of the water was gone and the feeling of refreshment went along with it.

Phantom smiled at his knight's reaction to the cold water.

"Thank you." Eckhart said, rejuvenated, "I didn't realize how much I needed that."

"Please keep the flask," the sand bandits said, "Take it as a token of your trip here. We still have many left and we hope this could be of use to you in the future if you visit our town again."

"I promise I will keep this safe. Thank you." Eckhart said.

Before two of the three sand bandits could strike a quick conversation with the emperor, a voice was heard throughout the town.

"Make way! Make way! The queen has arrived!"

"Blast. The queen is near." Phantom sighed, "Once again I must say goodbye. I promise to return someday."

"Y-yes emperor Phantom. Please take care and visit us again. Your company is always welcome." Sirin and Eleska said.

"Stay safe, emperor Phantom." Ardin waved.

With that, Phantom and Eckhart made haste to the ferry. As soon as they arrived and were met with Neinheart, who was waiting for them while carrying a huge sack of gifts from the people, they took off.

Another successful escape from the arrogant and corrupt queen of Ariant.

* * *

(Elsewhere)

"WHAT?! TOO BUSY YOU SAY?! THE EMPEROR WAS TOO BUSY WITH HIS DUTIES TO EVEN LAY HIS EYES ON MY BEAUTIFUL SELF?! LISTEN HERE YOU LOT, DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?! WHO WOULDN'T WANT THE HONOR OF BEING IN MY PRESENCE!?"

In the distance, the people of Ariant could feel the anger of their queen and all internally smirked. She would never have the honor of laying eyes on _their_ emperor.

* * *

***SHING-CLANK-CLA- CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA - CLA –CLAAAAANG***

On top of the lone floating island of Ereve, many were gathered at the gardens for at that location was a match between two of the most skilled (and handsome) swordsmen on the island. A match between an emperor and his knight. Although many already knew the victor, it was still an entertaining match to watch even if it was fought almost every other day.

For a while the two men clashed their blades. As time went on, one of them started to wear down as many could see. He was taking quicker breaths and sweat started to run down his face while the other man, on the other hand, still looked his usual radiant self. Unwavering, focused, and not even out of breath. Taking advantage of his opponent's fatigue, he gave one hard swing at his blade.

***CLAAAAANNNNG***

"Whoa…Ugh!" the opponent's blade was thrown from his grasp and then kicked to the ground. He looked up and saw the blade of the radiant man near his head.

"Alright…***Huff-Huff*** you win, Mihile."

Then, all of Ereve erupted in applause.

"Another great fight you two!"

"That was so much better than last time! Emperor Phantom is getting better rapidly!"

"Maybe, but he's still miles away from one of his strongest knights!"

While the applause went on, Mihile offered his hand to the emperor, whom gratefully took it and soot up.

"Phew! That should be enough for today. You sure are getting faster and stronger, Emperor Phantom." Mihile said.

"Don't flatter me, Mihile." Phantom chuckled, "It's obvious that I'm still miles away from you. Even all of Ereve agrees."

"But it won't be that way for long."

"If that's the case, then you best strengthen yourself even more! It would be embarrassing to be weaker than the one you swore to protect, right?" Phantom laughed. Mihile, on the other hand, took it very seriously.

"You're absolutely right, Emperor Phantom!" Mihile gasped. He then proceeded to ruffle his hair, "Argh! How could I have been so blind?! I have been slacking off so much while you are constantly getting stronger!"

"Eh? But Mihile, I was just jok-"

"No, Emperor Phantom! I must improve myself! What use am I to you if I am not strong enough to protect you?! From now on, I'll be harsher with myself and my dawn warriors!" Mihile then ran off.

Phantom sighed in exasperation. "Well you certainly boost the morale of all the knights and you don't even need physical strength for that…"

Just then the bells rang, signaling that it was time for lunch.

* * *

After having changed out of his sweaty attire, Phantom then donned the same set of clothing he usually wore, which consisted of a golden circlet, light blue robe-like overcoat over an imperial suit and sapphire-studded boots, and walked with his tactician Neinheart to the dining hall.

"Goodness, I have never felt so good in a long time! I'm glad we took this chance to return to Ariant. The situation hasn't really improved over the years." Phantom started.

"I agree," Neinheart replied "I'm glad we could avoid the queen too."

"Ah yes, I forgot that you had a run-in with the queen before right, Neinheart?" Phantom laughed without restraint. "Where did you meet her again?"

"It was during Magatia's alchemy show…" Neinheart grumbled, "Her attitude and arrogance… even her looks! I cannot believe that someone as ghastly as her became queen." Neinheart shuddered.

"No wonder you wanted us to leave so early. I thought you didn't like the spectacular alchemy show. Besides, she wasn't THAT bad, now was she?"

Neinheart shuddered even more wildly. "You don't understand, Your Highness! I wanted to run away the moment I saw her, but she surrounded me with her guards and demanded that I talk to her…!"

Before the tactician could gush on any further, he was interrupted by the emperor.

"Oh look! We're at the dining hall." Casually pushing the gigantic golden doors open and walking in, he greeted all who were already seated at the dinner table the same way he greeted his old friends: a wide smile and open arms. "Good afternoon, everyone!"

"Good afternoon, Your Highness." They said, as they stood up and sat down again.

"Sorry for making all of you wait! Now then, let's have lunch."

Just then, servants rushed into the hall and gently laid down plates filled food on each person's side of the table. When all of the dishes were served, Phantom stood up once more and said, "Let's eat!" and immediately all dug in.

Henesys steak, Burgers and Fries Kerning city-style, Spicy Wild Boar ribs, Ellinia mushroom salad, Nautilus special fillet, the dinner table was filled with numerous delicacies all made by Ereve's finest chefs and the people ate in a variety of manners. Only the emperor's dish stood out from the rest, for it was a fairly simple dish and was what he ate every day for lunch: Ariantian curry and flatbread. Phantom simply tore out a piece of the bread, dunked it in the curry, and ate it. He never got bored of the taste of home.

"Umphurur Phuntur (Emperor Phantom)…***GULP***…why do you keep eating the same thing over and over? You'll get bored of it, you know?" said the red-haired girl wearing red robes from across the table. Her name was Oz, and she was the fifth (and youngest) knight to be recruited by the emperor. As a mage of fire, she was feisty, albeit loyal. Many knew what made her tick, and did their best not to anger her, the emperor included.

"I agree," chimed in Neinheart, who was treating himself huge spoonful's of curry, "There are many different dishes out there that you should try. You might like them more than what you're eating now."

"Come now Oz, you know that I've been eating this for years! What makes you think I'll get bored of it now? As for you Neinheart, I find it funny for you to say that considering you weren't willing to try Ariantian food when I asked you to. Now look at you. Thanks to my urging, you also eat Ariantian food every day." Phantom replied.

"It is simply tolerable. I just eat it because it is more exotic than other dishes."

All of those in the dining hall smirked. They knew Neinheart deeply enjoyed Ariantian food. It's just that his pride always got in the way when admitting that he was wrong about his first impression of it, which was "_It would probably taste like liquid sand."_

"Well that's enough about me. What about you all? How was everyone's day?"

"Uneventful, to say the least." Said a tanned man in a naval suit and large captain's hat. His name was Hawkeye and he possessed the power of lightning which was integrated in his Buccaneer style hand-to-hand combat. He was the fourth to be recruited by the emperor. Phantom saw him as the one with energy rival to Oz, which was saying a lot. Contrary to Oz though, he was jollier and a _bit _more self-conscious about his image. Seeing him in boredom shocked Phantom.

"Oh is that so? Well that's a disappointment. Perhaps a match with me might hype you up?" Phantom suggested.

Hawkeye's eyes lit up. "Really? You mean it?! That's a promise, Your Highness!"

"As long as you teach me how to fight after."

"Hawkeye, don't be ridiculous. Emperor Phantom just finished his match with Mihile. What makes you think he'll be strong enough to fight you now? You'll only be hurting him." Scolded Irena, the second of Phantom's knights. She was a bowmaster who controlled wind and among all of the females living in Ereve, Irena was considered to be the most beautiful even by her fellow females. Her shining golden eyes, her long flowing green hair, Phantom was sure that she had many suitors come after her before.

"Oh don't worry about me, Irena. I'll be fine. Besides, I'm eager to learn some form of hand-to-hand combat with Hawkeye. It might help me if I have no weapon."

"If you say so Your Highness…"

Phantom then turned to the blonde-haired man beside Irena. "What about you, Mihile? Besides increasing your training, how was your day?"

"Oh nothing much, Emperor Phantom. It has been so peaceful lately, so I've been walking around Ereve to pass the time and enjoy the scenery. I've also added new training exercises for my knights but other than that, there's nothing much else that I can say." Mihile was by far the most manly out of all the knights. He was never sad, and was the perfect role model for many of the younger knights. He was also prone to being picked on, but never let it put him down. Phantom often envied his attitude, although he never let it show.

While everyone resumed to their meals, Phantom turned to Eckhart, who was wearing his mask and had not even touched his meal. "Eckhart? Is something wrong? You've been quiet since our return from Ariant. You haven't eaten either."

"It's nothing Emperor Phantom, it's just…"

"Just…?"

"Well I've been hearing rumors. First among our knights and then to most of Masteria. These rumors, although small, have striked fear into many, but I don't think-"

"The rise of the Black Mage," interrupted Irena, "This is what you're referring to, right Eckhart?"

For a while, the rest of the room was silent.

"Eckhart…is this true?" Phantom asked.

"…Yes."

Oz scoffed. "Oh come on, they're just groundless rumors! The Black Mage was sealed a long time ago by the Raven Knights and the Explorers! What evidence is there of the seal breaking?"

Irena nodded. "I agree. Come now, Eckhart. You know better than to make Emperor Phantom worry about this world more than necessary."

"Actually," Mihile chimed in, "I also have been hearing some similar things. Many may believe the rumors to be false, but what is they're all true? If the Black Mage reawakens and attacks us, we'll be totally off guard."

"Mihile! You cannot be serious!" Irena said.

"I agree with Mihile," Hawkeye said, "My fellow knights have reported to me similar stories. Even if the rumor was false, I doubt it would be spread at such a large scale. False rumors typically don't last long without some form of evidence."

"Oh look, even the idiot of the group agrees." Oz said, between mouthfuls of food, "If you're so sure about this 'rumor', why don't you provide the forms of evidence that you talked about?"

"Well smart one, since you asked, have you ever noticed how the monsters have been getting stronger lately?"

"Ever heard of coincidences?"

"Not only that, but haven't you noticed that the way some monsters look now resemble how they did when the Black Mage took over? Or how about how some monsters near Leafre kept on saying weird stuff relating to the Black Mage? Or how about how some monsters started to change color and turn dark purple? You'd be more idiotic than me if you haven't noticed and that's saying someth-YEOWWW!"

Oz smirked as Hawkeye jumped out of his seat and tried to extinguish the fire that had caught on to his cape. After the fire was extinguished, Hawkeye growled at Oz. Slowly his fists were covered in green lightning and he proceeded to dash towards Oz, who held her staff at the ready.

"STOP YOU TWO!" Phantom shouted. He knew full well that Oz and Hawkeye did not get along, and if he did not stop their fighting, they would have trashed all of Ereve. Slowly, the two chief knights lowered their weapons, but not before exchanging death glares at each other.

Phantom then turned to the man he could rely on the most, Neinheart.

"Well Neinheart? Do you believe these rumors are true?"

The tactician pondered for a moment, as if he was already forming a strategy to beat the Black Mage.

"Well, whether or not the rumors are true, I do believe that it is necessary that we take caution. We should double our reinforcements and urge our knights to do the best that they can to become stronger and become advanced knights. It's better that we come over prepared than not prepared at all."

Phantom nodded. Neinheart had a point. If the Black Mage were to attack Ereve in their current state, all of Ereve would most likely burn to the ground, given the Black Mage's power as told in the stories.

Before the discussion could go on any longer, a bird-like creature wearing a steel helmet bursted into the dining hall.

"Emperor Phantom!" the creature huffed. "Bad news!"

"Kiriko? What's going on?" Phantom asked.

"We've located several ships heading toward Ereve! And not only that, a group called the Edelstein Resistance is requesting your aid!"

"What?! Do you know who is behind all of this?" Phantom asked.

"They mentioned someone named the Black Mage!" Kiriko replied.

"Emperor Phantom, what should we do?!" cried his chief knights.

"We must do whatever we can to protect Ereve, but we also must aid the Edelstein Resistance. We've fallen out of favor with them because of our past mistakes. We cannot repeat that…ugh!"

Phantom looked at Neinheart and immediately Neinheart understood and turned to the chief knights.

"We'll need to split up. We need two of you to join the Emperor to Edelstein and we need three to stay and guard Ereve."

Barely a second later, Eckhart and Mihile stepped up to the Emperor. "We'll go." They said.

Neinheart nodded. "Good. I was thinking the same thing. I will join the Emperor as well."

"Let me join the Emperor!" Irena suddenly cried.

"No Irena," Neinheart said, "We need you to stay at Ereve and guard the island along with Oz and Hawkeye."

"But-"

Mihile walked up to Irena and put a hand on her shoulder. "Irena, you don't have to worry about the Emperor. I promise that Eckhart and I will protect him with our lives. You're the strongest knight that I know, so can I ask you to use your strength to protect the island?"

Irena subconsciously put her hand over Mihile's. "…Alright. But you must promise to keep yourself safe as well. We in Ereve also need you." She said. "_I need you." _Just then an explosion sounded from the outside.

"We must hurry!" Eckhart yelled.

Mihile nodded. "Of course. I'll see you later."

Irena then forced herself to let go of Mihile's hand, for if she didn't let go now, she wasn't sure if she'd ever let go.

"Oz, Hawkeye, I'm trusting you to set aside your differences and work together to prevent this threat. Can I trust you two to do that?" Phantom asked.

Both chief Knights bowed. "Of course Emperor Phantom."

Phantom sighed in relief. "Good. Irena, can I trust you to watch over them for me?"

Irena bowed. "Of course, Emperor Phantom."

"Okay. Neinheart, grab my Blue Screamer and Heaven's Gate. Now let's move!"

The Emperor and his team then dashed out and ran to the ferry to take them down to Edelstein.

While dashing out with two of her fellow knights to confront the current crisis, Irena looked back at the ferry one last time.

"_Dear goddess, please keep them safe. Please keep Mihile safe."_

While running, Hawkeye faced Oz.

"I told you!" he laughed.

* * *

**So how was it? Sorry if some characters were OOC, but I had a lot of fun writing this! Please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.**


	4. Just Our Luck

It was just her luck.

She had finally found herself a more valuable treasure than gold, and possibly a challenge. Her heart was beating so fast that she could barely contain herself. She was about to steal from an emperor. An emperor!

The Skaia, the emperor of Maple World's most valuable possession was soon to be hers. Well, more like "soon", if she could actually find a place to _start._ She had yet to know the exact location of the emperor's castle, or whatever the heck he lived in. Never mind the possibility of a challenge, this already WAS a challenge!

"Ma'am, we've obtained the coordinates! Please take a look!" said Collete.

Aria rushed to the room and looked at the squared spot on the electronic display of all of Maple World.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Send those coordinates to Renault and let's be on our way!" she exclaimed. "Renault! Did you get all that?!" she yelled, from across the ship.

"Already on the way, ma'am!" yelled the ship's pilot.

Aria's heartbeat then increased rapidly. Finally, a location. Victory was coming so close, she could practically taste it on the tip of her tongue.

(A few hours later)

"Are you sure these are the right coordinates?" Aria asked, "We're right above the ocean, and I don't see anything related to an emperor here."

"Yes, we're absolutely sure. This is exactly where Ereve is supposed to be…" said Christianne.

"Why don't we ascend a little bit? Maybe we can get a better view."

Renault did as he was told, and ascended the ship to the point where all of the crew could see almost all of the ocean, yet they saw nothing.

Aria let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be harder than she thought. Just then, Gaston stood next to her, while sipping on his tea and looking in different directions.

"Madam Aria, if I may…"

"Not now Gaston, I'm busy. I'd appreciate it if you didn't interrupt me again so I can concentrate."

Gaston ignored her last comment and continued. "You might want to go on the deck and look up. I believe that's what you may be looking for."

Aria gave another heavy sigh. She was too tired from all of the disappointments lately. She was willing to take anything at this point.

Aria made her way to the deck and looked above.

"Gaston, I swear, if this is another one of your tricks, I'll-wait a minute…" Right directly above her head was a series of floating rocks all surrounding a large looking one in a circle. "You can't be serious…to think that somebody would steal my idea of having a stronghold in the air."

"Madam Aria, actually…"

"Not now Gaston, let me have my moment. Alright, crew! New plan! I have located the area of my next heist!" Aria pointed her finger skyward. "Renault! Up we go!"

"Aye!" the pilot saluted.

While the rest of the crew celebrated the Master Theif's finding of the next area, the butler behind her sighed and took another sip of tea.

"But it was I who located it…"

The trip to Edelstein was awfully short. So short that Phantom didn't even have time to be nervous, much less worried about himself and the knights back at Ereve. Despite this, he could understand that it was imperative that they made it to Edelstein as soon as possible. Their support to Edelstein was surprisingly limited, to the point where members of the resistance were already getting upset. He couldn't let this happen again. When Edelstein came into view, Phantom could already see several soldiers several miles off the town fighting off an army of weird creatures with long ears wearing black suits, and skeletons using a variety of weapons. They were quickly advancing on the town.

As soon as the ferries landed near what looked like the base, they were met with a woman wearing a mask wielding a whip and dagger in each hand.

"…I'm glad you all could make it. I hate to admit this, but the army was stronger than we thought. We need your help more than ever." She said.

"I apologize for making you feel that way, Claudine," Phantom replied. "I understand that the contributions from us were rather lackluster, but as the emperor, I promise you that it will not happen again. Also, that's why I brought a plethora of soldiers with me. By the time this battle is over, I plan on stationing some of them here. That is, if it is okay with you."

"Well, what choice do I have? Our numbers are low, so this will surely help our cause. Enough talk, as you can see, our forces are dwindling as we speak, we must make haste and join the fray." With that, Claudine turned and hastily ran into the battlefield.

Phantom turned to face his knights.

"Knights, quickly! We must make haste and give our all to this alliance! We cannot let them down like how we had before! If we fail our comrades, then we fail ourselves not just as knights, but as people! Now then, into the fray!" He shouted. With that, the knights, led by Mihile and Eckhart, rushed into the battle yelling and fighting off the army of strange creatures. Phantom was about to rush in as well until he found his shoulder gripped by his tactician.

"Wait a moment, Emperor Phantom. If you just run into the battle like this on your own without any knowledge of the enemy you'll be killed immediately. It's best that you stay back with me and wait as I devise a strategy based on the observations of the battle." He said.

"But Neinheart, they're my knights! I can't just stand back idly while all of my knights out there risking their lives alone, much less without a strategy of attack!"

"You need not worry about that, Emperor. I already devised a strategy for Mihile and Eckhart while we were on the way here. They know what they're doing. Besides, not all of your knights are out there fighting. If you look behind you, you'll see that I've assembled a small army to be led specifically by you."

Phantom proceeded to look behind him and found out that Neinheart was right. Behind him was a group of about fifty soldiers, both kinku and human.

"Wow, I'm surprised you were able to come up with this so quickly." Phantom chuckled, "We were just informed of this attack roughly half an hour ago!"

"Such is an elementary task even for an average tactician. Who would I be if I wasn't able to pull something off like this? For now, just sit back. I promise that I'll have an even stronger plan of attack in a short while."

As Neinheart observed the battle, Phantom paced around the camp. He grew even more anxious when he saw stretchers carrying several wounded soldiers, some of which were from the resistance and gave him dirty looks as if they were digusted that he was not fighting unlike their own leaders. As they were laid down for treatment, Neinheart walked by to ask some questions. Surprisingly, all of them gave information, although later commented that he wouldn't be able to draw anything from such. As more and more soldiers were being carried in, Phantom's anxiety had reached its peak.

"Neinheart, how much longer must we-"

"I'm finished."

"Eh?"

"Emperor Phantom, please listen carefully. Based on my observations, the enemies individually are not strong, however, they make up for that with their large numbers. Also, the battle will be fairer and most likely to our advantage if the soldiers with ranged weapons go against the skeletons because they also have ranged weapons and the melee soldiers focus on the bunnies. When you go into battle, I suggest you pair up with someone else so he or she can protect your blind spots while they protect yours. I also urge you to relay this message to Mihile and Eckhart as quickly as possible, for they along with the others seem to be worn out. And also take this pouch with you. It contains all kinds of elixirs that will definitely be needed on the battlefield."

Phantom breathed a sigh of relief. If not for Neinheart, Phantom could have died, much less failed as an emperor.

"Thank you Neinheart. Now then knights! Let us help our allies! Charge!" Together, Phantom and his army drew out their swords and rushed into the battle. Immediately, bands of skeletons and rabbits charged at them. Phantom smoothly dodged all of their sloppy attacks while using his Heaven's Gate to slice his opponents. Bones dropped to the ground, and suddenly the rabbits shrunk in size while running away on all fours.

There was no time to celebrate, however, as more and more kept coming. As Phantom kept fighting, he found himself quickly becoming exhausted and already suffered minor wounds on his body.

"_Darn it! I should have brought Shinsoo with me… she would have been able to keep everyone from harm."_

But this was no time for complaining, as more and more soldiers arrived and quickly caused Phantom to be separated from his soldiers. With so many enemies around him, Phantom was forced to be on the defensive.

"Argh! Just my luck…" he muttered.

It was just her luck…again. Right when she had arrived at the floating island, Aria had found out that someone else had arrived before her. To make matters worse, whoever had arrived first supposedly wanted to wreak havoc on all of Ereve. Thanks to that, the island was overrun by knights and weird looking monsters holding swords, scythes and cubes. On the bright side, however, since the knights were preoccupied with holding the enemy forces back, it was easier for Aria to stay incognito.

"_Now then my soon-to-be treasure, where might you be?"_

Looking around, Aria figured it best to look in a large building, which she easily located in the center of the island. The fact that it was also heavily guarded further reinforced her prediction. The emperor was most likely inside, probably protected by his elite guards. Luckily the soldiers outside were distracted enough to not see her drill a hole in the glass window on the balcony using her cane and sneak in.

When she made her way in, however, she was surprised to find it empty and void of any life. Truthfully, she didn't really know where she was at the moment. Looking around, all she could see where bookshelves full of books, a fancy couch, several flower pots, and a large desk on one end of the room. If anything, it looked like she was in the library, but she couldn't be too sure. Perhaps the emperor was smart enough to not be in a place that many would expect. She made her way to the desk for clues to confirm if she was in the right room. Nothing much was on the desk except a bottle of ink, a light, a quill, and what looked like a smeared letter. She could really care less about the contents, so she moved her eyes to the bottom and at last confirmed her suspicion. At the bottom of the letter was a signature that neatly spelled "Phantom".

"Bingo. Sorry your highness, but your treasure will be mine any minute from now…that is if I can find you…or it."

This was strange. If the emperor wasn't in his quarters, then where would he be? Would he be in an attic? A basement? Or would he have already escaped to an area far away from here? No, the latter was unlikely. Assuming that he actually cared for his soldiers, he wouldn't turn tail and run away. But then, given certain circumstances…

Aria ruffled the sides of her head.

"Ugh, there are too many variables and there's not enough time for me to solve this equation…looks like I have to do it the old fashioned way." Aria sighed. She should have come here more prepared, otherwise she wouldn't have to resort to such a tiresome method: looking for and examining very nook and cranny.

Just when she was about to start her search, she heard the shattering of several windows. Looking in the direction of the source, she found several knight on the floor groaning in pain, and several floating black creatures with weird color markings holding different weapons float in her direction.

"Ugh, just my luck…"

Phantom's energy was going down at a fast rate. Trying to block blows from about twenty enemies was no easy feat, especially when he had to get in certain positions to black the blows properly. In a matter of seconds, the number doubled, and with all the blows coming to his sword, it shattered.

"Blast!" He didn't have time to draw his other sword, because in an instant, a skeleton soldier was already headed his way, spear pointed toward his heart. Phantom closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact and the pain that went along with it.

It never came. Suddenly, the cackling of the skeleton ceased, and around him, all of the enemies where either turned into a lifeless pile of bones, or empty black suits and hats. A growl suddenly sounded behind him.

"Waaaaahhhhh!" he yelled, as he turned around fell on his bottom. He suddenly found himself face to face with a fierce-looking panther.

"Oh come on, don't be such a big baby, he's just my companion! Seriously, you guys from Ereve are scared so easily. Anyway, are you alright?" On top of the panther sat an orange-haired woman holding a crossbow, offering her hand. Phantom gratefully took it and stood up.

"Thank you. Sorry about that, I thought he was going to eat me."

"Oh trust me, if he wanted to eat you, he would have done so already. Anyway, now's not the time to continue chatting. Hurry up and get yourself ready for the next oncoming waves." She said.

"Ah, yes." Phantom drew out his Blue Screamer and once again positioned himself for battle.

The woman smirked as he did so. "Something tells me you've learned how to fight through the books."

Phantom blinked. This woman sure was observant. Did all archers have such sharp eyes?

"That is correct. How did you know?" he asked.

"You moving into posture and your fancy moves give you away. A word of advice, when in battle, forget about performing techniques correctly and getting in proper positions. Those will only get you killed faster since they are waste of energy and time. Just use direct attacks and blocks to conserve energy. You'll be more efficient in battle if you do that."

"I see. Thank you miss…"

"None of the titles please. Just call me Belle, and this is my panther Black Jack."

"Very well. Thank you, Belle. Thank you, Black Jack." Phantom then pulled out several elixirs and handed them to her. "You should take these for yourself and the others. You need them more than I do."

Belle nodded placed them in her bag. Before she could ride away, Phantom stopped her.

"Ah, before you go, a word of advice," he said.

"I highly doubt it'll be useful, but I'll give you thirty seconds before I ride away."

Phantom then relayed Neinheart's strategy to Belle as quickly as he could.

Phantom noticed Belle's eyes widen right before immediately returning to their normal, calm state.

"Hmm…even I've never thought of that before. It seems like that tactician isn't all talk. He does have at least some brain…no offense."

"Haha, I understand. Sometimes I feel as if none of us give him enough credit, but it's hard to do so based on the way he acts, right?"

"Well, at least we agree on something. Anyway, I'll see you later. I'll relay what you said to the rest of the resistance. Before that though, I'll at least open up a path for you so you can relay this to someone else. I take it nobody besides me knows of this strategy?"

"You are correct."

"Well then…how about the blondie? Right now he's the closest to us."

"Mihile? Of course."

"Alright. Get ready, in a moment I'll open a pathway for you to reach him. Once I start shooting, run immediately. I don't know how fast the enemy sends reinforcements, but we can't afford to take chances and take things a little more easily. Our losses are piling up by the minute. Understand?"

"Absolutely." Right when Phantom voiced his understanding, Belle immediately started firing at the bunnies and skeletons.

"Go!" she shouted, and immediately Phantom ran as fast as he could to Mihile.

To her surprise, the black creatures were surprisingly hard to ward off quietly. When one disappeared, two more came. If this went on, it would capture the attention of the knights on the island. If Aria wanted to remain undetected, she would have to immediately leave the emperor's chambers, but even doing so wouldn't stop the knights from noticing the broken glass windows. If that happened, they would tightly secure the chamber and make Aria's goal that much harder to achieve.

Right now though, she needed to focus on her current objective, which was getting these creatures off her tail.

Because she didn't have Dark Sight, a common camouflage skill among thieves, she had to rely on her own speed to get around the army of black creatures, and make her way out of the chamber without being detected. Thankfully, none of them were as fast, so she easily outran them and was now out of their sight. They now would need to find some other targets.

Right when Aria was going to release a sigh of relief, she heard an explosion and along with it, felt the island shake. Knowing that the source was near, she looked up from behind the rock she hid in and could hardly hide her surprise at the sight.

Up ahead, corpses of knights were scattered everywhere, and only a handful remained standing. Out of all the knights, three stood out. The green-haired archer, the redhead mage, and the knight with the pirate hat. Since they were the ones who stood out the most, Aria guessed that they were some of the leaders of Ereve's army. However they didn't look so good either. Each one of them had their fair share of cuts and bruises. Aria then turned to who they were facing. He looked like he didn't belong, to say the least. For one, he had wings, his skin was too gray to be human…or elf for that matter, and overall his body was too big for him to be human. Aria could tell by his appearance that he was most likely the one who caused the attack.

Things were not going to end well. She just knew it.

Irena tried her best to keep her calm demeanor in front of the man…or dragon. As he got closer though, she felt her arm, which had strung her bow, shake uncontrollably. She knew very well that her knights needed her morale and leadership to keep them fighting, but with all of the wounds that she, Hawkeye, and Oz have suffered and all the soldiers that they lost, such a thing was almost impossible, which was furthered by the menacing man that stood before them.

Exhaustion was present in Oz's face as she spoke. "Who are you…? And why are you here?"

The man chuckled. "Quite brave you are, to be asking such a question before your doom. But very well, I'll answer your question; I am Magnus, ruler of Pantheon, the land of dragons, and one of the commanders to the Black Mage, my master. I am here simply because he wishes me to be here and to eradicate those whom he deems dangerous. Whatever her wishes me to do, I do. Honestly, I didn't expect you all to hold off my army of specters for so long, but that doesn't matter now. My master has just ordered me to make this quick."

There was something about this man…or dragon. The way he talked, looked, and carried himself. It was paralyzing…suffocating…as hard as they tried, none of the chief knights could move except stare in fear.

The man guffawed as he raised up his gigantic sword. "Sleep."

The eyes of all the chief knights widened, as if awaiting their death.

Without thinking, Aria sprang into action, rushing forward to intercept the attack. In less than in an instant, Aria was in front of Magnus, and pointed her cane at Magnus, making a flurry of cards wound his head. Magnus flew back in surprise while wiping off blood from his face. For a while, he was silent, examining Aria.

He sneered.

"How precious. Blonde hair, and raven hat. Aria, The Master Thief, has come to the rescue of the Cygnus Knights! Did you have a change of heart and finally decide to care for the world? No. Let me guess, you are having trouble finding what you want and hope to earn the favor of the knights so they might be able to help you!"

"What makes you think you know me so well?" she harshly asked.

"Please, I wouldn't dare proclaim myself as an individual who knows you inside and out. So if that's not the case, then what are you here for?"

"That's none of your business. And did you say you're from Pantheon, the land of dragons? I've never heard of it before. Do you have anything to prove that?" Aria did her best to intimidate Magnus, but seeing as how he didn't even react, it wasn't working.

"I have nothing to prove to you. If that's all you have to say, then why don't you run away like the petty thief you are? I had just received a message from my master to relay to the knights, and you play no part in it."

Aria felt Irena, Hawkeye, and Oz tense up, as if expecting an attack.

"Relax, it's not an attack of any sort. He only wants to strike a deal. To put it simply, he wants all of Ereve to be under him, and in return he'll ensure your safety."

"The Emperor will never give Ereve to you!" Irena shouted.

"Such a rash answer. One does not simply refuse an offer from the Black Mage. Sadly I can't stay here and play for too long, but allow me to make this offer more convincing before I leave."

In an instant, Magnus held his sword at the ready and dashed toward Oz. Hawkeye, once realizing Magnus's target, dashed to the rescue.

"You idiot, get out of the way!" he shouted. As soon as he forcefully pushed Oz out of the way, Magnus performed a diagonal slash at Hawkeye, causing blood to rush out of his upper body and fall unconscious.

For a moment, all of Ereve froze.

Thanks to Belle, it didn't take long for Phantom to reach Mihile and relay the message and for one of Mihile's Dawn Warriors to relay the message to Eckhart, and so on. Now that everyone had been informed of the new strategy by Ereve's tactician, the battle had finally shifted in their favor, and after what seemed like hours of fighting, the enemies finally started to withdraw. Cheers erupted from both the Phantom Knights and Resistance Soldiers alike, however their joy was short-lived as three floating figures emerged from the withdrawing crowd. Two where together and were wearing black cloaks, with one wearing a hat to top it off, and the other figure was a lady with long red hair, and beautiful golden eyes while wearing clothes almost similar to the Ariantian style. Although they there were only three people, their appearances gave off the aura of menace…and incredible power. It was as if the Resistance was but dust to them based on the way they carried themselves.

"My my," the red-haired woman said, "The Resistance held out longer than expected. To think that the Phantom knights would make such a difference…it seems that maybe I might just enjoy this." She chuckled lightly.

"Who are you?!" Claudine asked, exhaustion present on her face. Her clothes suffered several tears, and her mask had completely fallen off.

"How impolite. Isn't it proper to introduce yourself first? Even in battle, it'd be nice if you could spare some manners or two, like me. Had your questioncangered me, who knows what would've happened to your dear friend." With a snap of her fingers, a body appeared.

"Brighton!" Belle and Claudine yelled, with Belle rushing over and carrying the injured mage back to the group.

"You…!" Claudine yelled.

"Relax, he'll live. But then again, that's what he gets for messing with me, Hilla, the Shamaness of Azwan."

"_Azwan?!"_ Phantom thought.

"The mythical city in Nihal Desert?" Phantom blurted out, "It exists?!"

Hilla flipped her hair and sighed. "Of course it exists. I'm tired of hearing people say that it doesn't. Read the books. They have more than enough proof."

Phantom was bewildered. He had lived in the desert for a while, hearing stories of Azwan only being myths. For someone to nonchalantly claim that Azwan was real…

"That's enough Hilla, we didn't come here to make small talk with these pests." Said the one wearing the black hat.

Phantom froze. He recognized that voice.

"Orchid?!" Phantom looked at the face of the one next to her to confirm his fears. "And Lotus?! What are you two doing here?!"

"Simple." Lotus replied. "We are doing this under orders of our master. He has ordered the obliteration of all whom oppose him."

"But why? What does he want?"

Orchid scoffed. "What else? You pathetic humans and your petty desires are the reason for the chaos in this world! That's why our master has decided to rule you all and create a world where all people are subjects to his will so there will be no more chaos."

"Then your master…he couldn't be…"

"Who else other than the Black Mage? He is the only one capable of all this. Anyway, we've wasted too much time. Let's hurry up and end this."

Slowly, the three floated forward toward Phantom and Claudine.

Mihile and Eckhart then stood in front of Phantom. "Emperor Phantom, please stand back. Let us take care of this."

"What?! Absolutely not! Are you too out of your minds?!" Although they looked in far better shape than himself, Phantom doubted even the two of them would be enough to take on these commanders.

Suddenly, the commanders froze as if they were listening to somebody. And then they moved once more.

"Well it seems like today is your lucky day," Hilla said, "Our master has ordered us to fall back for now. It seems like what we had set out to do has already been done by one of our fellow commanders."

"What do you mean by that?" Phantom asked.

"Patience is key, dear emperor. Now if you'll excuse us, we have more important things to do." And slowly, the three commanders started to float up to the sky.

Before he could let them go, Phantom needed an answer from two of the commanders.

"Wait! Orchid! Lotus!" The two commanders stopped in their tracks and looked down on the emperor.

"What do you want?" they asked.

"Why?!" Phantom asked, "Why are you two doing this?! You used to be such pure and kind spirits! Why are you serving someone like the Black Mage?!"

Orchid scoffed. "What do you think? Do you honestly think we enjoy living amongst weak and untrustworthy beings like you humans? Everywhere we go, we see you humans plagued by your desires. It's pathetic! Even our master acknowledges that humans are pitiful beings." With that, the twin spirits floated away once more, leaving Phantom with so many questions.

Although they had technically won the battle, the mood amongst the soldiers was nowhere near positive, especially when Brighton, the leader of the Resistance's Battle Mages, was severely wounded. Phantom walked over to Claudine and handed her three power elixir bottles.

"Here," he softly said, "For you, Brighton, and Belle. You all need it more than us."

Claudine nodded and silently took the bottles. Phantom then proceeded to pass out more bottles to the other wounded soldiers and knights.

"Wait."

Phantom turned around and saw Claudine stand before him looking down, albeit more nervous than before.

"Yes?"

"I know that the Resistance and I have been quite rude and hostile to you all, but I just want you all to know that if it hadn't been for you…we would have lost this battle, and Edelstein would've been gone. Despite our rocky relationship, you all fought valiantly and risked your lives to protect us. So…thank you."

Phantom was slightly taken aback at Claudine's compliment. He expected some speech along the lines of "_Don't think we're equal…_" A mellow speech like this caught him quite off guard, but oh well. He was thankful knowing that he and the rest of his knights had helped.

"Please don't worry about it. I suggest you save your thanks until after we have made up for our past disappointments in full."

Claudine chuckled lightly. Despite her hostility towards the Phantom knights, she was beginning to understand why Phantom was so likeable among his peers.

"Of course. Just to let you know, the only time we'll call it even is when you help us retake our home from the Black Wings."

"Ah yes. It seems like we have our work cut out for us. Ah, but if you'll excuse me, I'll need to distribute these elixirs to the rest of the wounded." Phantom said.

"I understand. I'll be taking my leave now."

With that, Phantom proceeded to handing out the elixirs to Mihile, Eckhart, and the rest of the injured knights and soldiers. After he was done, he faced the night sky while holding the glowing purple jewel he had kept beside himself for so long.

"_I wonder how everyone on Ereve is holding up…"_


	5. Parting

**Had a lot of fun writing this one, even though it took a while ;).**

**Please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.**

* * *

"Consider this a parting gift, hahaha! I sincerely hope you'll consider the offer, but for now, I bid you adieu!"

…

…

She couldn't hear anything.

She couldn't feel anything.

She could see, but her sight was narrowed to seeing only a knight on the ground, bleeding profusely from his chest. His eyes were closed, and his body motionless.

"…-eye!"

"…wkeYE!"

"HAWKEYE! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

Only the fire wizard's violent shaking of the fallen knight tethered Aria back to reality. At this point, she knew she had two options: either to run away and forget everything, or to help the knights possibly to earn their favor and trust, though the latter was unlikely, seeing as how she was exposed by that cursed general. Also, she was sure her sudden appearance on the island also planted suspicion in the knights.

But she also couldn't run. If there was anything that she hated most, it was being labelled a coward, or having anything to do with one.

_Damn it all!_

If that was the case, then forget running away, she had to help. Grabbing her cape, she hurriedly tore off a long piece of the cloth and lifted up Hawkeye's body to wrap the cloth around his torso.

"Get a medic! A priest! Or a nurse! Hurry!" She yelled, mentally cursing herself for not stealing the healing skill from random clerics. If she had done so, she at least would've been able to use the technique on Hawkeye to stop the bleeding immediately.

Oz received the message and rushed to the dimensional mirror, trying to reach Ellinia hoping to find some cleric, priest or bishop with superior skills to fix Hawkeye.

_Does Ereve have no healer whatsoever on the island?! How do they even prepare for incoming attacks like this?!_

It took Aria all her strength to press on Hawkeye to stop the bleeding. Curse the wound for being so long. If she pressed in one area, more blood would leak out in the other.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for Oz to return, and with a bishop.

Quickly, the bishop used his staff to gently touch the wound. As he closed his eyes, a green light glowed from within Hawkeye's wound and vanished within seconds.

All everyone could do was stare in awe.

Sure, Bishops weren't an uncommon sight around Maple World, but it was still amazing to see magical mending at work, especially when it was performed at high speed. One would have to wonder why there weren't so many Bishops roaming the world already.

"There, it is done. Would you mind if I removed the bandages?" he asked.

"Is he…Is he gonna be okay?" Oz asked, as if she didn't believe that Hawkeye had been completely healed yet.

"That's what I intend to find out. Now then, do you mind?" the bishop asked again. Once Oz shook her head, he immediately proceeded to unwrap the red-stained cloth from Hawkeye. Upon removal, everyone stared at his body, wide-eyed that the wound was gone.

"Amazing…" some of the knights remarked.

The bishop simply chuckled. "Elementary for all healers like me. Though I will say that I have only closed the wound. He has lost a lot of blood and will need plenty of rest. I strongly suggest you all to not let him move for a while after he wakes up."

Oz nodded, wiping the tears that she had recently noticed were on her face.

"Well then, ***Clap-Clap***, I believe you have other soldiers you want me to heal. Might I ask you to bring them here?"

Oz nodded, and hastily proceeded to help Irena carry the wounded soldiers to the bishop to heal.

When all the soldiers healed, the Bishop then proceeded to leave Ereve to continue on his journey, with the chief knights seeing him off.

"Thank you." Irena said, "If not for you, I don't know what would've happened to everybody here…"

The bishop simply chucked. "Like I said earlier, it was nothing. If you ever need a healer, just call on Master Grendel so he can send you one, or maybe come over personally. And as promised, I'll let Athena Pierce know about this, so don't worry. I'm sure she'll make haste at sending allies."

Irena nodded. "Thank you."

"Well then, may the Goddess Rhinne shower her blessings upon you all and-"

"Wait."

Just then Aria made her way towards the bishop. At this, Irena drew her bow.

"State your business." She said.

Aria couldn't help but chuckle. Fear, doubt, and anger were what she saw in Irena's eyes. She knew she wasn't the type of person to radiate an air of honesty and trust. The only drawback for being notorious of thievery. But still…

"I just saved one of your knights, and this is the treatment you chief knights bestow upon me?" she asked.

"You may have helped a little, but we all know you're the Master Thief. I know full well didn't help us from the kindness of your heart. So I'll say it again, state your business." Irena sharply retorted.

"Relax, I'm not here to steal anything. What I want isn't even here anyway. The only thing I want now is to talk with the bishop." Aria said.

"Me huh? Very well."

The bishop then motioned for Irena to lower her bow and proceeded towards Aria.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if we could talk in private."

Irena then strung her bow again.

"Wait! Let me go with you!" Irena said to the bishop.

"Worry not. I can see no malice in her eyes, so nothing will happen. More importantly Chief Irena, I suggest you go check on the knights. Right now, they'll need your morale more than anything."

Irena paused for a moment and only left when she saw that the bishop had made a point.

With that, Aria proceeded to lead the bishop into the woods of Ereve, stopping only when he knew they were both out of sight.

Once they were settled, Aria brought forth her request.

"That healing technique…could you show it to me?"

* * *

"Emperor Phantom?"

Phantom then turned to the source of the voice, seeing Eckhart, Neinheart, and Mihile standing to his side. Phantom nodded, acknowledging their presence and putting his Skaia away.

"Everything is ready, I take it?"

"Yes," nodded Neinheart, "We are ready when you are."

"Alright. First, let us bid farewell to the Resistance." With that, Phantom made his way back into the hideout and together he and all of his knights said their goodbyes.

"Thank you. Without you, Edelstein wouldn't have stayed ours anymore." Claudine said, removing her mask.

"Certainly," Neinheart said. "If you ever need a tactical mind like mine, just notify us in Ereve. We'll try our best to be there in no time."

"Way to downplay the contribution of all of the knights Neinheart," Eckhart remarked, but regardless, he was too tired to deal with the difficult Neinheart anyway.

"Well then, we best hurry back. Who knows what's going on in Ereve…" Phantom said, as he and his knights hurriedly boarded the sky ferries and departed.

_I wonder how Hawkeye, Oz, and Irena are doing… Hopefully we're not too late._

"Emperor Phantom?"

Recognizing the voice, Phantom responded without looking back.

"What is it, Eckhart?"

"You look troubled. Is it about Ereve?"

Phantom sighed. If there was anyone who could make him wonder why he hid anything, it'd be Eckhart.

"…Yes. We were barely able to hold back the attack on Edelstein, even with the help of the resistance. If the commanders of the Black Mage are just as strong as each other, I don't know how Ereve would hold up for so long…"

For a while there was silence between the two until Mihile piped in.

"Worry not, Emperor Phantom. Each and every one of the knights is very capable of holding armies to soldiers. After all, wouldn't you agree that all of us chief knights are pretty much the best at what we do? You were also the ones who assigned us to be your chief knights. Trust us, Emperor Phantom, each and every one of us will protect Ereve to the very end."

Phantom couldn't help but smile. He was also glad he brought Mihile along. The Knight of Light had more than enough charisma to brighten even the darkest of days.

But still, he hoped that the "end" Mihile mentioned wouldn't come to Ereve.

* * *

"You want me to teach you how to heal?"

"No, not teach me. I want you to show me."

"Show you? Well that's no problem, but why show?"

"Because it's all I need."

Aria noticed the bishop raise his eyebrow, but took his silence as him not questioning her, which she was thankful for. It was a pain to reveal her ability to steal techniques with her impeccable memory.

"Well then, I assume you wouldn't mind it if I used the technique on you, right?"

Aria shook her head, giving the go-ahead to the bishop. The bishop then placed his staff on the scratch wound on Aria's arm, which she suffered from fighting all those specters. Specks of green light began to emit from his staff which flowed into the open wound. Immediately Aria felt her wound close, and the stinging sensation gone.

It was done, and Aria had memorized the technique. Healing was going to be a piece of cake.

"Thanks," she said, as she used her mana to replicate the bishop's technique on her other wounds.

"Amazing…" the bishop remarked.

"I know I am."

"Well then, I believe my duty is done here. I should be heading back to Ellinia. If you ever require assistance, you should ask for Master Grendel. He's far more efficient than I am." And without any more words, the bishop headed to the station to be carried back down to Victoria Island.

"Yeah, well what I require right now is a trip back to the Lumiere… I've had enough chaos for a day."

Aria soon took her exit, disappearing in a flurry of cards.

* * *

"Dear Goddess…"

Damage to the island was to be expected, and Phantom had prepared himself to see the worst, but this…this was beyond the worst.

Craters covered most of the island, all of the buildings were crushed, and its tall trees and other plants were either fallen or burnt to a crisp. Even Neinheart, who hardly made any facial expression at all could not resist being flabbergasted at the amount of destruction.

"What awful power…" was all he could say. It was then that Phantom noticed that the island was quiet and empty. Almost too quiet and empty.

"The knights… what about the knights!? Everyone, search everywhere for the knights!" Phantom shouted, dashing through the island not even caring that he was in greater danger by being separated from the group.

"Emperor Phantom, they're here!"

Thankfully, all the knights were grouped up in the last standing building of the island, but all were seriously injured, even the chief knights themselves. Over in the corner, Phantom spotted Oz curled up next to a motionless, tanned man.

"Hawkeye…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

"Hawkeye?"

Upon hearing the Emperor's voice, Oz and Irena immediately stood up to greet him. Aside from their bandaged bodies, it didn't take a genius to tell that they were exhausted and disheartened to say the least. Oz's puffy and bloodshot eyes also showed that she had been crying for a long period of time.

"Be at ease, you two. I know that it's been…quite a day." Phantom said, a little disappointed knowing that he didn't have anything to give to comfort them. It was during this time that Phantom severely missed Hawkeye. Looking at his face, Hawkeye looked so pale. Phantom quickly turned his eyes away.

"It was all my fault. If only I had…had…" Oz's speech was quickly drowned out by her muffled sobs. Irena then wrapped her arms around her for comfort.

"If not for Grendel sending in a bishop, many of our soldiers would have been in trouble."

Phantom nodded. He'd have to thank Grendel earlier.

"The Black Mage's commanders…they're absolutely awful…" Mihile said.

"That goes without saying. And who knows what other commanders he has and what they're capable of?" Eckhart then put his mask back on, most likely to hide his fear.

"Well, they're not here now. We should all rest."

…

Phantom sighed as he put his desk back together and arranged all of the scattered documents into neat piles. Surprisingly enough, the royal chamber had not taken as much damage as the other buildings. Sure there were cracks on the walls and broken glass windows, but most, if not all of the books were still intact. But one question still lingered in his mind.

What to do?

He sighed, exhausted from the recent events, and sat down on his desk.

_*WHOOOSH*_

Reflexively, Phantom drew his sword, which he still held by his side and put it in front to block the flurry of cards that flew towards him.

"Impressive, not many men can protect themselves as well you can against my cards."

The voice, surprisingly female, came closer.

"But that's still not enough." Phantom then felt a sharp blow to his gut and fell to his knees as he gripped in pain. He then mustered all of his strength to quickly jump back to take a look at the intruder to his chambers.

A raven like hat, blonde hair, and jewelry decorating her clothing. There was no doubt about it.

"Aria, the Master Thief…" he muttered. Despite all of her decorations, it looked like she had encountered trouble recently, for although her face was clean, some of her clothing was torn.

"That's right. And you have something I want. If you don't want to get hurt, I'd advise you to do the smart thing and hand it over." Once again, the master thief threw a flurry of cards towards the weakened emperor, several cards hitting their mark this time.

Each card feeling like a knife piercing his skin at high speed, Phantom was forced on the defensive.

"What is it…that you want?" he panted.

"What I want, dear emperor, is the jewel you keep so close to your heart."

"You don't mean…"

"Yes I do. I want your Skaia."

Blast. He had a feeling she was going to ask that, seeing as how it was the only thing of value he had on him. To be fighting off a thief trying to steal a jewel gifted from his family instead of worrying about the fate of Maple World. He could almost laugh at the situation.

"You know emperor, I'm in a really bad mood. When I'm in a bad mood, I get pretty violent. If you don't want me to get violent, you best hurry and give me your Skaia. Give me your Skaia and I'll forgive you for wasting my precious time."

Forgiving him for wasting her time? If anyone's time was being wasted, it was his! If not for her, he would've been spending time devising a strategy with Neinheart on how to deal with the Black Mage! Phantom _could_ give her the Skaia to end the conflict in a flash but…

"I'm sorry. But the Skaia is a family gift I hold dear. If you want it, you'll have to take it by force."

Aria sighed upon hearing the emperor say that. What could he do in this situation? He looked absolutely pathetic with his ripped attire and exhausted body. Although, he did deserve credit for protecting the jewel despite his situation.

Aria sighed again.

"Fine then. You asked for it." Her cane at the ready, she dashed forward preparing to perform a quick jab at his gut.

"Hm?!"

_*THOK*_

Suddenly, purple throwing stars littered the area between the two.

Looking up, Aria saw a masked individual silently land in front of Phantom.

"Eckhart!" he exclaimed.

"Emperor! Are you alright? Stand back, I'll take care of this."

Darn it. It was Eckhart, the emperor's right hand man. This would be difficult, and she hated difficult. Her being tired from the day's earlier events didn't really help either.

"_Grrrrr….._"

Taking the Skaia was still possible, make no mistake. It was just the fact that it was only possible, not certain that she would have it. Based on the information from Colleen, Eckhart would also be tough to get through, much less defeat. Seeing as how she didn't even notice his presence and couldn't hear the sound of his feet touching the ground as he landed in front of her, something told her that he would know her moves well, as she would now his. What's more, since she was more of a melee fighter than a ranged one, getting close would be tough. She didn't have time for this. If she was found out by all of Ereve, it would be all over.

"Hmph, fine then. I'll hold off on the Skaia for now. But make no mistake, it will be mine one day. Remember that."

Upon lifting her palm, cards flew around her, transporting her back to the Lumiere.


	6. Rebuild

**Please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you wan, it'll help me become a better writer.**

* * *

The emperor paced nervously all around his destroyed chamber. Ereve and Edelstein were still under construction thanks to the damage done by the Black Mage's commanders and his knights had not fully healed yet. What's worse, the world was in chaos due to news of the Black Mage's return spreading all over Maple World. The people were in fear. If Ereve and Edelstein couldn't handle the attack, then who could? He exhaled a long breath and sat down on his desk, exhausted from the day's events. He wasn't sure if he had slept at all within the last twenty-four hours, but with so many worries plaguing his mind, he wasn't sure if he would even be able to sleep. Instead, he had ordered all of his knights to rest their bodies and minds. They needed the rest more than he did, save for his tactician.

"I assure you, Emperor, that I will be fine. What takes priority is devising a strategy to combat this threat. There is no way that I can sleep without finding out a way to defeat the Black Mage especially when we are most vulnerable." He said, taking a sip from his third cup of coffee. Phantoms eyes scanned his tactician, noticing the bags under his eyes and ruffled hair. Even Neinheart was in no better condition than the knights. Finally, he had come to a decision.

"But to devise a strategy, isn't a well-rested mind important? It would be better for you to rest your mind so you could easily devise a strategy, right?"

"Once again emperor, I assure you that I'll be fine. Possibly for another day or s-"

"Neinheart?"

"Yes, your highness?"

"Don't make me make this an order."

"But emperor! Who will be here to protect you? What if someone breaks in and-"

Phantom's face then hardened. He knew Neinheart deeply cared for him, which he wholeheartedly appreciated, but it was due to his care that he often forgot to look after himself, thus making Phantom worry about him instead. "Let's not worry about me now. Go to your room and sleep and leave all your documents here."

Finally, the face seemed to do the trick as Neinheart sighed in defeat, and bowed. "Yes your highness…"

"Make sure you sleep for at least eight hours. If you sleep any less, I'll double your time."

"As you wish, emperor."

After hearing the door to his chambers close, Phantom took one more look outside of his chambers, seeing several soldiers exercising furiously. Noticing their bows, he figured it was probably Irena training them.

"Hopefully they've received enough rest…" he mumbled.

"Emperor Phantom."

Turning around, Phantom found himself facing his Chief Knight of Light and Chief Knight of Darkness. "Oh? Now what brings you two here?"

"We saw Neinheart making his way to his chambers alone. We thought something had happened between you two." They said.

"Oh don't worry about us. I simply ordered Neinheart to rest himself. You guys know that if he could, he'd forgo sleep and spend all of his days and nights strategizing. I sometimes can't help but think he actually enjoys what he's doing. Perhaps we should set him up and get him to start dating?"

Both chief knights chuckled lightly. Yeah, like there was any way that Neinheart would even consider such a thing. With the way he was, the chances of him being with any woman was zero. Maybe even lower.

"Anyway, what are you two doing out of your beds? Go back and rest!"

"Don't worry about us your highness," Eckhart said, "We've rested enough. It's you who needs it."

"Absolutely," Mihile chimed in. "Out of all of us on Ereve, you're the only one who hasn't slept yet."

"But how can I sleep when the future of Maple World is at stake? What if I sleep and more lives are lost in the process? I…I want to do something. Anything to protect the world I love. I want to make sure that the people of Maple World have someone they can trust."

"But you already have earned their trust, Emperor Phantom. Don't you see? It was thanks to you that we have regained trust from Edelstein and many of the people are looking to us for help."

At those words, Phantom felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over him. "You know what, you're right. Mihile, since you're here, why don't you do whatever you can to boost the morale of the knights? They'll need your support more than anything."

The Chief Knight of Light saluted, "Understood, Your Highness!" as he dashed out of the chambers.

"And Eckhart, come with me. Oh and if you will, please bring my bow with you."

"Where are we going, emperor?"

"Oh you'll see."

Exiting the emperor's chambers and heading towards the left of the island, the emperor, followed by the Chief Knight of Darkness, made his way towards a certain area full of wooden targets.

"The training grounds?" The chief knight asked.

"Yup! I was hoping you and I could get some target practice together like the old times!"

Eckhart was about to question the emperor's reason for taking him to the training grounds to do something so trivial, but then reminded himself that he was talking to the emperor. Knowing him, the emperor wasn't one to do things without reason.

"Very well then." Eckhart said, handing Phantom the bow and grabbing out his own throwing stars. "So is this a competition?"

"Has it ever not been?" The emperor laughed.

Eckhart couldn't help but laugh along with the emperor.

"So what does the winner get?"

* * *

"So a failed heist then?" The butler said, pouring his master a cup of tea.

"I'm sure you already know the answer to that…" Aria replied, hand over her forehead.

"Well then how about we celebrate? After a number of years filled with successful heists, the streak has finally been broken!" the butler laughed. "Though it is disappointing that you have nothing new to show to us."

"Oh shut up." Aria muttered, refusing to show her face to Gaston. The chances of him laughing at her distraught face were probably high. She wasn't going to give him that luxury.

"Seems like Ereve wasn't necessarily a kind place…"

"It was a battlefield, Gaston!" Aria started. "Specters and injured knights were everywhere, and one of the Chief Knights was actually stupid enough to get himself injured in place of another! To make things worse, Ereve doesn't even have a healer! How have they survived so many wars?!"

Aria groaned in annoyance and sat on the nearest sofa. Gaston then sat on the sofa across from her.

"So what will you do now? Just give up?"

Aria scoffed in annoyance. "Are you even listening to yourself right now, Gaston? The words 'give up' should never be associated with someone like me."

"Then?"

Aria sighed and stretched her arms. "It's been a long night and I just want to sleep. I'll think of something later." And with that she headed to her chambers without a word.

Despite her sour mood, Gaston couldn't help but smile as she walked to her room. She'd think of something. She always did.

…

Sipping his tea, Gaston turned his eyes to the moonlit sky. To think that he'd live long enough to see her grow from a baby to an adult. It was heartwarming to see the child of his former masters grow up.

"She didn't even wish us good night…"

* * *

Somewhere far away, in a very dark and gloomy castle, a silver-haired boy woke from his slumber. Turning to his left, he noticed the bed next to him being neatly made; Orchid must have woken up early today as she always did. He sighed as he buttoned up his black uniform and donned on his coat, even wearing the sleeves, something his sister never did. Walking out of his room, a horrid stench immediately met his nose. He had been living in this castle for a number of years, yet could never get used to the smell of what seemed like rotting flesh and blood. Walking down the hall, he found himself in front of abnormally tall metal doors.

Knocking on them lightly, he reported "It is I, Lotus."

"Welcome Lotus. Come in." replied a raspy, dark voice.

Casually pushing the doors open, Lotus forced himself to casually walk toward the table that sat the other commanders, most of which possessed personalities he could not stand.

"Hmph. Took you long enough." Muttered the old man with his pet snake.

"Watch your mouth, Arkarium." His sister, who also wore clothes similar to his own along with a black hat, sharply retorted, "I shall not allow you to talk to my brother in such a manner."

"Then perhaps he'd do well to show up on time. Not everyone here is willing to hold back on their meals just because of one irresponsible spirit. Perhaps you are also at fault for not waking him up as well."

"Why you little-"

"Silence you two!" A red haired man roared. Despite his ghostly appearance, the former king of El Nath, Von Leon, still maintained his voice of authority over the other commanders. None of them dared challenge him, for he was by far the strongest out of them all. With two of the commanders silenced, Von Leon's face softened as he turned to Lotus. "Please take a seat, Lotus."

Lotus nodded silently and sat beside his sister, glad to be away from the others, besides Von Leon. Once he was settled, Von Leon called for the meals to be served and the commanders ate in silence.

"Lotus dear, is something troubling you?" a feminine voice, different from his sister's, called out.

From the other side of the round table, he caught the look of concern from the shamaness, Hilla, one of the more tolerable commanders.

"I'm fine…" he slowly responded.

"But you've only been poking at your food. You haven't eaten at all."

"I'm just not hungry today."

"Is you say so…"

"Looks like the boy needs a mother." The dragon-winged commander snickered.

"Quiet you. Anyway, Orchid dear, I have some new clothes for you to try on in my room. Would you mind coming later?" the shamaness asked.

"Not at all!" Orchid cheerfully replied. "I'll be there as soon as I'm finished.

It was at this point that Lotus had had enough. There was nothing for him to do here if he didn't want to eat. "Please excuse me. I'll be heading back to my room." Immediately, he rose from his seat and made his way towards the door.

"But Lotus…!" his sister cried in protest.

"So soon, Lotus?" Hilla asked.

"Ah yes. I'm afraid…I'm not feeling very well today." He responded, refusing to look back.

"Oh come on, boy… why don't you come to my room? I'll make you a man." immediately, Lotus felt the cold squeeze of the dragon commander on his shoulders.

With one swish of his hand, Lotus sent a purple beam down Magnus's shoulder, effectively injuring him.

"Don't touch me." He coldly said, exiting the dining hall while Magnus screamed in agony.

"Well then have yourself a good rest." He heard Hilla say.

Nodding once more, Lotus slowly walked to his room where he plopped back down on his bed and sighed once more. During his time as a spirit, he could remember the times when the castle he was residing in was the most beautiful in El Nath. Now, nobody would dare come near it. It was almost depressing to think about.

Unlike his sister, he did not like fighting or making people suffer. The Black Mage had told them that by following him, they would have all the fun that they wished and be able to play with many people. But while they "played", Lotus could only see the faces of despair on the people everywhere they went. Some cried and some cursed, but while his sister reveled in the chaos, he only felt more and more despair. This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to have fun, he wanted to see smiles, but for the longest time, he did not have fun nor did he see smiles. No longer were he and his sister doing things together as often as they did back then. She now spent more time with Hilla than she did with him and seemed to be happier now. His thoughts then went back to the time when he and Orchid had first received their bodies.

"_Orchid, becoming a human…For some reason, it scares me."_

"_Oh, Lotus. Still so worried?"_

"_Maybe we should just stay as spirits? With this body…I feel like I'm going to become something I'm not. What if something happens to us? I don't want to be alone…or for you to be alone. I don't like that."_

"_Then we can just disappear together! I have no regrets, As long as I get to have fun with you, Lotus. Without you, Lotus, there's no Orchid. And without Orchid, there's no Lotus. Us two have to stick together. You'll come with me, right?"_

"_Yeah, I like it if you like it, Orchid."_

Oh, how they and the times have changed. No longer were they doing things together as often as they did back then. Orchid now spent more time with Hilla than she did with him and seemed to be happier now. The only time they were together was when they were wreaking havoc. But even he wouldn't call it being together for he did not desire doing such things together anymore. Eventually, they would separate themselves again.

He didn't want this anymore. He didn't want to be surrounded by these people. He didn't want to hurt or kill. He didn't want to serve the Black Mage anymore. He had had enough.

"I have no business here anymore."

Exiting his room, the foul stench returned, but he could care less. Eventually, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. He was leaving the Black Mage and the commanders behind.

"_Farewell everyone. Even you sister."_

Reaching the dimensional mirror within the castle, Lotus prepared to walk through it until he heard the sound of a snake hissing. Reflexively rolling to the side, he found himself facing Arkarium, the oldest of the commanders.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, petting his snake as it sang.

"Arkarium…you…"

"Don't think I haven't been watching you, boy. I know what your intentions are. And I also know that you're aware that this kind of behavior is only punishable by death."

"...You think you can stop me?"

"I don't think, boy. I know I can stop you. And I will." Right when he uttered his last word, Arkarium's winged snake lashed out at Lotus once again, partially cracking the dimensional mirror in the process. Unfortunately for Lotus, even though he had rolled towards the dimensional mirror, he had reacted too late and found his side scratched by the snake's fang. Arkarium's face smirked in victory.

"Give it up boy. Soon my pet's poison will spread throughout your body and you will soon grow weaker and weaker until you can no longer move. Hahaha!"

"_Laugh all you want old man. But don't forget my escape route's still here!"_

In a desperate attempt, Lotus used all of his remaining strength to jump into the dimensional mirror, his destination unknown. Arkarium, too caught up in his supposed victory noticed too late.

"You fool!" were the last words Lotus heard before falling through the mirror. No sooner had he jumped did he find himself falling.

* * *

_*THOK-THOK-THOK*_

_*THOK-THOK-THOK*_

One by one, arrows and throwing stars were lodged into the center of circular targets. The process then repeated until an arrow failed to hit the center of the smallest target, while the throwing star did so without fail.

"Seems like it is my win again, Emperor Phantom." Eckhart smirked as Phantom's eyes widened in surprise.

"B-But! There's no way I could have been so far off!"

"Would you like to look at the arrow's position one more time?"

"Ugh, never mind. You win. But to carry you on my back again…I don't think I can handle it."

"Don't look so glum, emperor. Think of this as an exercise."

Out of all the things the Chief Knight would never do to the emperor, Phantom was surprised to find out that Eckhart was actually willing to let himself be given a piggyback ride by the emperor back to Ereve.

"Very well. But before we do so, how about a break? I'm exhausted." The emperor then walked to a tree and sat under the shade that it provided, the Chief Knight of Darkness doing the same. Reaching into his pouch, Phantom pulled out two bottles of cold water and gave one to Eckhart. Together they drank in peace.

"So why did you bring me her-"

"So how is she?" Phantom asked.

"Pardon?"

"Oh you know, how's Lana?"

*_PPPFFFBBBBTTT*_

Upon hearing the name, Eckhart spit out his water. Of course Phantom would bring Eckhart here for that.

"E-Eh?"

"Oh come now Eckhart. We've known each other for so long! Don't think I don't know where you go at night when everybody is sleeping."

"Y-You know?!"

"Oh but of course! During our travels to Henesys, I even see the way you look at her! It's pretty funny actually, one time I actually saw you drool. I thought you'd notice so I didn't say anything, but it was still there when we returned home. That's why Oz and Hawkeye were laughing so hard when we came back."

"E-Emperor Phantom!" Eckhart then immediately put his mask on to hide his embarrassment.

"Ah, but enough about that. So is she doing well?"

"Sh-Sh-She's doing fine…" Eckhart mumbled from behind his mask. "Still very busy since she's the CEO of Big Hit Records, but she seems to be living comfortably."

"Have you been talking to her."

"I…"

To Phantom, that was a no. Not that he expected it either. Contrary to how he looked, Eckhart was surprisingly shy, but one would have to be very close to him like Phantom to know.

"Well, I'm just glad you've been going out and doing things for yourself. I often times worry that your duties get in the way of your personal life. You have to live your own life too, you know."

"Emperor Phantom…"

*_RUSTLE-RUSTLE*_

_*BONK!*_

…

"What was that?" Phantom asked.

Eckhart pointed towards the end of the training grounds. "It came from behind the targets!"

"Let's go check it out." Phantom said, rising from his seat.

"Emperor, are you sure? I can go and examine it myself. We don't know whether or not this is a trap, and it could be dangerous if you're caught. We can't risk your safety. You sit back here and r-"

"Nonsense, Eckhart. We do things together! Besides, I know you'll save me if I ever get into trouble, hahaha! Now let's go!"

Reluctantly, Eckhart followed Phantom towards the direction he had heard the sound. Once they had passed the training grounds, their hasty steps then became slow, careful treads. The edge of the forest was surprisingly loud. What was once an area mainly inhabited only by Tino's became filled with Tigureu's, Tiv's, Tiru's and Timu's.

"Where do you think the source is?" Phantom asked.

Surveying the area, Eckhart spotted an open area filled with all kinds of Erevian birds. The way they were positioned was as if they were circling something.

"Let's walk towards open area. Perhaps we'll see it there." Eckhart said, pointing his finger towards the small, circular area with no trees.

Phantom nodded and proceeded cautiously along with Eckhart towards the small grove. As they came closer, the cries of the birds became louder. Once they had finally reached the area, they saw him.

Lying face down right in the middle of the area while being surrounded and pecked my Erevian birds…was Lotus.

"Impossible…" Eckhart whispered, "What is he doing here?"

Phantom said nothing and quietly approached the unconscious man, the birds making way as he did so.

"Don't touch him Emperor Phantom!" Eckhart whispered, but Phantom did not listen. Giving him a light shake, Phantom waited for any sign of movement from Lotus.

"…"

No response. Phantom then turned Lotus over, noticing the blood on the grass where he previously lied, and put a finger to his nose, feeling soft breaths.

"His breathing seems shallow…he needs help." Looking down at Lotus's torso, he could also see cuts and blood on his uniform. "Eckhart, could you help me and put Lotus on my back?"

"...Are you sure about this, Emperor? This man here was the one who aided in the attack of Edelstein."

"I know who he is, Eckhart. But right here and right now is a man who desperately needs help. And as the emperor, I simply cannot ignore that fact. If I don't help him now, I will regret it for the rest of my life. If he ever comes back to attack us after his recovery, then I will take responsibility."

"…Your compassion knows no bounds, Emperor Phantom." Eckhart smiled as he grabbed Lotus and carried him on his back. "Rest yourself, emperor. I'll handle this."

"Great. Although…should we keep this a secret from Neinheart?"

…

"Ah…he might have a day-long scolding ready for you if he sees Lotus within Ereve won't he? If that's the case then let's make haste and hope that he's still sleeping."

"Ahaha! Right!" Phantom exclaimed, grateful for his knight's support.

* * *

"Hmm…these scratch marks almost resemble those of fangs. The way they are shaped and patterned, it seems he was bitten by a snake. A large and poisonous one at that. Also there seems to be heavy impact on the side of his head. I can say with confidence that he will function normally, but his memory may be a bit hazy based on the location of the impact. Other than that, you have nothing to worry about. The poison has been removed and it'll only be a matter of time before he makes a full recovery."

"Great, thank you doctor." Phantom said as the doctor exited the room. "So now we wait…"

(A few hours later)

Surprisingly, it didn't take Lotus long to wake up and when he did, Phantom saw Eckhart's hand reach for the pouch to his side, most likely readying some stars.

Phantom then casually walked over to the newly awoken spirit tried to start a conversation, hoping he and the spirit could have a nonviolent exchange. "Good afternoon. It's good to see that you're awake. You got hit on the head pretty hard, and I was worried you wouldn't wake up after a few days or so. How are you feeling?"

The violet-eyed spirit scanned the room as if he was taking in a new sight, which was strange. Phantom was sure the past emperor, Emperor Raven had interacted with him before, so such sights shouldn't have been new.

"I-I'm fine…" Lotus responded. Phantom sighed in relief. "But…"

"Hm?"

"Where am I…? Who am I…?"

Phantom and Eckhart eyed each other incredulously.

"Eh?!"

* * *

**Hey guys! Just to let you know that although I may not update stories often, I'm much more active answering emails and PMs. If you guys have any questions regarding story updates or whatever, or just want to have a casual conversation, just PM me and I'll get to you ASAP!**


	7. Advantage: Aria

**Whew! Finally done! Please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.**

* * *

"Emperor Phantom…"

The silence that came right after Neinheart had talked was brought with an ominous feeling. Even Phantom was feeling quite nervous.

"No need to say anything, Neinheart. I already know what you're going to say."

"And yet you still brought him in?!"

"Neinheart, he needed help."

"Even then, he's still one of the commanders of the Black Mage!" The tactician harshly whispered, keeping his voice down, not wanting to alarm anybody outside. "He's killed millions of people and you just decided to let him have refuge here?! Do you know how dangerous that is?!" Neinheart sighed as he rubbed his temple. "No. I will not allow it. He cannot stay here."

"But Neinheart, he has nowhere to go! He's an amnesiac! He knows nobody outside of Ereve!" Phantom exclaimed, hoping his words would reach his tactician.

"And how do you know that he has amnesia? How do you know that this isn't all an act? Even as we speak he might be notifying the other commanders of Ereve's weak state right now. If they come, we'll be powerless to stop them."

"Neinheart!"

"We are at a point in time where we cannot take risks, Emperor Phantom. The rise of the commanders means that the Black Mage's return is imminent and right now we must not trust so easily. He must go."

"Neinheart, please… in his current state, Lotus wouldn't even hurt a fly. Not only that, there's been no trace of him using his powers at all during his stay here."

"It's possible that all of this is an act of course. He could be taking advantage of your trust and planning an opportune time to strike."

Phantom sighed, defeated. With his body now well rested, Neinheart's stubbornness and cautiousness had increased to the nth power. There was no way he could get through to him. Unless…

"If I can't convince you…then could you at least give him a chance? Please…at least talk to him."

…

At last, after what seemed like an eternity, Neinheart sighed. "There's no need…"

…

"Eh? So…he can stay?"

"Was I not obvious enough?"

"Obvious? Of course not! You've always questioned my decisions, so… why now?

"Emperor Phantom, I've been watching over you ever since you were a child. And I've watched you place your trust in people that I'd never think of trusting. Trust that those people have not yet betrayed. I had failed to realize it then, but I realize now that just like how you've placed your trust in me through all these years, I must at least place some trust in you. So I'll start with this."

"Really?! Thank you Neinheart!" Phantom jovially exclaimed as he hugged his tactician, whom he now noticed was shorter than himself. It was a miracle. It was too good to be true. Was Neinheart finally trusting somebody else besides himself? This called for a celebration.

"But make no mistake, if I even sense the possibility of him getting you into danger, I will order the knights to attack immediately."

Well, guess Neinheart could only change so much. He was still ever the cautious one. Still, it was an improvement.

"Right…thanks anyway, Neinheart."

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for Lotus to settle in Ereve. The knights were a little skeptical, but with Phantom's reassurance, everyone welcomed Lotus with open arms, aided with knowledge of the fact that he had lost his memory. It was then decided by Neinheart that Lotus could stay as long as he made himself useful, so Phantom decided to have Lotus serve as his personal butler.

Luckily, Lotus was able to learn and perform his duties quite skillfully. In fact, Phantom could almost say that service was in his genes. With Lotus around, much of Phantom's stress was alleviated, and in no time, thanks to Lotus's aid, Ereve was rebuilt within a short span of time.

Even with Ereve rebuilt, however, Phantom's worries persisted. The fact that it was also very hot didn't help either.

"Emperor Phantom?"

Phantom turned around and saw his butler holding a cup with some pink frozen liquid in hand. "Ahh, Lotus! What brings you here?"

"I figured you were in need of refreshments so I took the liberty of making this for you." Lotus replied with a smile.

Phantom gratefully took the cup and finished the smoothie right in front of Lotus, feeling refreshed immediately after.

"Ahh! I didn't know how much I needed that! Thanks so much!"

"Of course, your highness."

Phantom sighed once again, however and paced around his library.

"Worrying again, your highness?" he heard his butler ask.

"Yes…As I'm sure you're aware, we were completely devastated by the attack from the Black Mage's commanders. Our knights are still recovering if they were to attack now…"

"Well, worrying will do nothing, your highness."

Phantom chuckled. "Ah, you sound just like Shinsoo. But you have a point. Then what should I do?"

"Well, from my understanding, we have formed an alliance with the Edelstein resistance, yes?"

"That's right."

"And we have not really been on the best terms with them, along with the fact that they were also attacked by the Black Mage's commanders, if we wish to repair our relationship with them, shouldn't we also aid in the rebuilding of their home?"

Phantom snapped his fingers, a light bulb going off in his head.

"Ahh, that's right! How could I not have thought of that?! That's it, we're heading down to Edelstein!"

Immediately, Phantom rushed out of his chambers and gathered his knights, asking for their assistance. Once again, Neinheart, Mihile and Eckhart decided to join the Emperor while Irena opted to stay back and guard the island. Hawkeye still had not woken from his injuries, so Oz decided to stay by his side on the island.

Grabbing packs of food and potions, Phantom and his knights rapidly headed down to Edelstein. Upon seeing the city still in shambles, he hurriedly unpacked the food and potions.

"What are you doing here?"

Right when they arrived, a doctor was the first to approach them.

"You will address the emperor accordingly, Claudine" Neinheart said.

"Oh I'm sorry. You see, here in Edelstein, we aren't ruled by an emperor. And besides, we may be part of an alliance, but we're simply cooperating with you. We're not bending to your will."

"You dare-"

"Silence, you two. Neinheart, remember that we didn't come here to quarrel. We came to help, and that's exactly what we're going to do. Now then, knights!"

Immediately, Phantom's men assembled in front of him in an organized fashion.

"Let us grab the packs and give them out to those in need. After that, we shall pick up the tools and help rebuild the place!"

"At once, your highness!" the knights shouted, making their way to the ferries to take the bags of food and tools.

"I just want to let you know that this still doesn't make us even." Claudine said, pushing up her glasses.

"So this is what we get after we aid you in defending your home and aiding in its rebuild? If that's the case, what more do you want? I understand that you're upset, but you're acting like Ereve doesn't have problems of its own." Neinheart replied sharply.

"Oh so you're telling me Ereve actually has problems? If that's the case then why don't you tell me what was so important that prevented you from aiding us in our time of need? If you had actually responded to our call, we wouldn't have been taken over by the Black Wings!"

"Why you-!"

Phantom sighed as the two bickered over the same issue again. Although they weren't on the best of terms, sometimes Phantom wondered if they bickered for the sake of it, rather than for what they believed in. Arguments between them always ended in an impasse anyway.

"Now then, I should probably find some way to make myself useful..."

* * *

Aria yawned and stretched her arms as she rose from her bed. That was the best sleep she had in a very long time. She considered sleeping more often, but to her, every moment not stealing treasure was a moment wasted. Treasure waited for no one, and she'd be damned if she let anyone take treasure before she did.

"Now then, where was I yesterday? Ah yes…"

The emperor of Maple World. Known throughout the world to be kind-hearted, courageous, and strong.

Hah. The emperor? Strong? Preposterous. Though she had to give him credit for thinking fast enough to defend himself against several of her strikes. Not many opponents had lasted as long as he did against her. But anyway…

Aria slapped her face to raise her adrenaline. Today she was going to do it. Today, the Skaia would her hers.

Heading to her closet, she found her clothes neatly fixed and ironed. No traces of cuts were on them. Perfect.

Heading outside her door, she found Gaston at the round table sipping a cup of tea.

"Ah, you're awake madam Aria. Have you had a good night's sleep?" the butler asked.

"The best in a long time, actually." She replied.

"Hmm…"

"What?"

"Ah nothing. If that's the case, then I suggest you sleep more often. Skipping sleep is never a good idea, madam."

"I'll think about it. Anyway, I'm ready to go back down again. Today, the Skaia will be mine. Where is the emperor now?"

"No need to ask, ma'am," Colette said, "We've already located him to be in Edelstein right now. He's currently aiding the people in rebuilding the town."

"Rebuilding, huh? And in Edelstein, the city of technology…this will be perfect." Aria smiled. "How far are we from there?"

"Just a couple minutes away." Christiane replied.

"In a crowded town full of people too busy on lining their pockets on money? This will be perfect. I already have the perfect plan for this. This time, I'll make this a heist that'll be remembered through time."

From across the room, Gaston smiled at his master's jovial appearance. The rest of the Lumiere was going to be in for a show. "I knew she'd come up with something."

* * *

It was nice.

Hearing the voices of people chattering while enjoying their meals along with the sound of hammers against nails showed that things were improving in Edelstein. Phantom wiped the sweat off his brow as he carried another stack of bricks toward one of the workers, who immediately used the stack to rebuild the elementary school. The process continued for a few more hours until the workers decided to take a break.

Making his way back to his tent, Phantom found Lotus already in front of it, handing out drinks to the workers.

Realizing that Lotus was out in the open, he hurriedly grabbed Lotus by the arm and into the tent.

"Lotus, what are you doing outside? Are you alright?" Phantom asked breathlessly.

"Well of course, your highness. Why wouldn't I be?"

Phantom sighed in relief and caught his breath. "Forgive me, it's just…I don't think your presence here will be welcomed by the resistance soldiers."

"Why not...ah. Does this have something to do with who I was back then?"

Phantom suddenly turned on high alert. "…You remember?"

Startled by the emperor's change in attitude, Lotus held his hands in the air. "No, no. Earlier today I was held at gunpoint by the police officer Belle. She told me all the things that I had done with some group called the Black Wings to Edelstein. Thankfully, Mihile and Eckhart defended me, telling her that I had lost my memory. She lowered her gun, but I don't think she's fully convinced."

"Ah yes, if that's the case then you needn't worry. Citizens in Edelstein are all a bit suspicious of strangers and former enemies. They've been attacked so many times that they're not willing to risk any chances. Please understand."

Lotus simply nodded his head and handed another drink to Phantom.

"Emperor Phantom?"

"Yes?"

"If it isn't too much to ask...who was I back then? Why did I do to make the resistance hate me so much? Was I... bad or something?"

To Lotus's surprise, Phantom smiled. "Well Lotus, let's just say 'or something', but no you could never be bad! In my opinion, the more correct term would be… 'misguided'."

"Misguided?"

"Yes. Ah, but how about we discuss this story another time? Don't worry about a thing, Lotus. I will reveal everything soon and in the meantime, you'll be safe with us."

"…You have my gratitude, Emperor Phantom."

"I'm glad to have it."

* * *

"Now isn't this a sight…"

She hadn't expected Edelstein to be in such shambles. Buildings were nearly leveled to the ground or completely blown away, and she scarcely saw normal citizens outside. If she thought about it though, perhaps it would've been safer for them to remain indoors anyway. Regardless, this made it easier for her, since it made the Cygnus knights easily distinguishable with their knight helmets and spears.

"Now then, dear emperor… where might you be..."

Since he was an emperor, he'd most likely be laying on a fancy bed drinking a smoothie of some sort while his knights performed all the work. Hmph, they were all the same. People of royalty always cared too much about their own skin to do any hands on work. If that was the case, then all she needed to do was to locate him, which couldn't have been too hard of a task.

Standing behind Edelstein's ruined clock tower, she scanned the area for the man with blonde hair.

…

…

Now where in the world was he? She had scanned the tents, but every tent looked the same. She had expected his tent to be decorated with jewels of some sort...Was he not staying in a tent? No. Preposterous. If he really was in emperor, his knights would've known better and given him a comfortable place to stay, right?

Aria had held onto that thought until…

"Alright, let's take a break!"

She saw the sweaty man walk back into one of the tattered tents. So he had been doing work after all.

At this point, she had to admit she was a little intrigued. He was unlike all the other royalty she had stolen from. She had half expected him to be like the queen of Ariant. This was a pleasant surprise.

"Because now I've found you…and I will take the Skaia from you."

Nimbly jumping from ruined building to ruined building, she stopped when she found herself mere meters away from the tent he was in. Currently he was talking to what looked like a butler of some sort, and around his waist was of course, the glowing purple jewel.

Reaching from within her pocket, she pulled out a black ball and prepared to throw it towards the tent.

* * *

Phantom stretched his arms as he finished changing out of his sweaty robes and into newer and cleaner ones. Looking out, he saw several of his knights in friendly conversation with several resistance soldiers. It was nice to see them make peace with each other, for it helped him forget that they were currently in danger.

Oh but how wrong he was.

_**PSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!**_

Smoke suddenly filled the room, blocking his view and stinging his eyes. He could hear the voices of distress, but his mind was currently occupied by escaping the smoke. The flailed his arms around, hoping to disperse the smoke and get a clear view of his surroundings, but to no avail. Suddenly, he felt hands near his waist ripping away something attached to it.

"I win, your majesty!" he heard a familiar female voice call out.

Within minutes, the smoke disappeared and his knights came into view. Wiping his stinging eyes, he had to blink several times before fully regaining his sight.

"Emperor Phantom, are you alright?!" he heard Neinheart and Lotus cry out.

"Ah yes. It's just my eyes that are stinging a little, but…" Phantom's hands then moved down to his waist to where he felt something being ripped. Looking down to his waist, he saw something missing. Something very important.

"My Skaia! It's gone!"

* * *

**First chapter released while being in college! Yay!**


	8. Coping

**Please Read&amp;Review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.**

* * *

Her smile was so wide, it was almost as if her lips wanted to force themselves off her face. Frankly, her face was starting to hurt, but she couldn't help it.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! It's mine! Ahahaha! Take that, you asshole! You see that?! That's how it's done!" Aria cried out, pumping her fists in the air. She needed to vent off all of her excitement before exiting her room. As of now, nobody in the Lumiere even knew she was present and there was no way she was going to show such undignified behavior in front of them.

_*Knock-Knock*_

"A fruitful heist I presume, Madam Aria?"

And of course Gaston would approach her room during the worst of all times.

"Er-ahem. Of course. Did you expect any less?" Aria asked, putting on a confident tone to mask her excitement as she walked out of her room.

"Is that so? Well, you did sound quite excited in there. It seemed that although I had absolute faith in you, you didn't have the same amount of faith in yourself. One typically cheers so annoying loud when they accomplish a difficult task."

"Annoying? Difficult?" Aria scoffed. "Say that one more time and I'm cutting your salary."

To her surprise, Gaston remained calm and sipped his tea. Aria could barely make out a slight upward curve on his lips as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a recording device.

"Gaston...no you didn't…"

"Indeed. 'Yes! Yes! Yes! It's mine! Ahahaha!' Quite the passion you showed there. To think you would even curse! Imagine if I were to let everyone know about this."

Aria froze, mentally cursing up a stor.

"Y-You wouldn't dare!" Aria immediately made a dash toward the recorder, however her butler anticipated her moves and nimbly brought the device out of her reach.

"Wouldn't I? What will you do, cut my salary again?" This time, the smile on the old butler became obvious.

"Gaston if you promise to keep it a secret I'll double your salary!"

"Oh madam. Here I am, having served you for nearly all of your life and I've received countless budget cuts just for caring about you. At this point, my salary is so low I'm almost like a slave. And here you are, just offering a double?"

"Fine then, how about a triple?!"

"..."

"A quadruple!?"

"..."

At this point, Aria's desperation had reached its peak.

"A quintuple?! Please!?"

Wordlessly, the butler handed the thief his recorder, although his smirk now became a wide smile.

"I'll hold you to your word, madam."

Hastily snatching away the device, Aria locked herself in her room once again and celebrated silently, mindful of any possible listeners.

* * *

The emperor sighed for what seemed to be the nth time during the day. The Phantom knights were currently packing up to head back to Ereve after they had aided the Edelstein Resistance rebuild their city. Although the city was far from being completely rebuilt, the supplies, food, money and assistance that Ereve had provided shortened what seemed to be a few months work into just a couple of weeks. Despite that however, the emperor still kept his sullen look.

"Emperor Phantom. The ferry is preparing to leave." Lotus said, hoping to catch his attention

…

"Emperor Phantom?" Lotus tried again, this time tapping Phantom on the shoulder. It took a few seconds for the Emperor to register before he finally reacted.

"Eh? Oh… it's you Lotus. What's going on…?"

"We are preparing to head back home now. Let us head back to the ferry."

"Oh...right. Of course…*sigh*."

Hearing the emperor sigh, Lotus couldn't help but pity him. What was once a positive ray of light quickly became a slothful and depressed mess all because of the loss of his most important jewel that he carried around everywhere. Despite understanding the emperor's situation, Lotus still couldn't just let the emperor leave in such a manner.

"Please remember to stand up straight as you walk, your highness. It wouldn't do to show such behavior in front of the Resistance would it?"

"Mm…" Slowly, Phantom's posture went from a hunch to standing up straight slowly, but surely.

As they were about to enter the ferry, Claudine rushed over to them to send them off.

"Before you go, I just wanted to thank you. You really didn't have to, but thanks to you our city will be rebuilt in no time."

Neinheart then adjusted his monocle. "There's no need. We just wanted to make up for our mistakes. I also would rather prefer to quickly get debts resolved to avoid any future headaches."

Claudine simply chuckled. "Well then, I'll have you know we're still not even."

At that remark, Neinheart prepared to deliver another line about how unreasonable the resistance was being, but decided against it, instead deciding to get on the ferry.

"*_Huuuuuuuuuuuufffff*"_

"...And if we ever see your jewel, we'll be sure to notify you immediately."

At that statement Phantom brightened up again and grabbed the doctor by her shoulders.

"Really?! You will?! Please make haste! I'm counting on you! That jewel was given to me by my family!"

"Er..yes. Don't worry."

Taking one last bow towards Claudine, both Phantom and Lotus boarded the ferry as well and there were off.

...

Upon reaching the island, Phantom couldn't help but sigh again. True, majority of the buildings were repaired and many physical wounds were healed, but the morale of the soldiers was nowhere near as high as it once was. Especially for the thunder breakers. Although they were all training diligently, the solemn look on their faces was obvious. Making haste past the soldiers and towards the hospital wing, Phantom ran through the corridors until he found Hawkeye's room. Quietly opening the door, he found the Chief Knight of Thunder sleeping soundly with company.

At Hawkeye's side was Oz, who was slowly brushing his hair aside. She seemed to focus all of her attention on the unconscious knight as she failed to notice Phantom walking in and checking on them. Looking at Hawkeye's face, Phantom sighed in relief seeing Hawkeye's face no longer as pale as it had been before.

_Good, he is recovering_

At the sound of his sigh, Oz jumped.

"E-Emperor Phantom!" she whispered in surprise before bowing down.

With Oz finally facing him, Phantom also took the opportunity to check on her as well. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had not slept at all and had been crying nonstop. She was no longer wearing her hood and her hair was in ruffles. Bandages also covered her legs and abdomen. She looked to be in far worse condition than any of the Chief Knights. Hawkeye included.

"You should rest. I can see you've been neglecting it." He said.

"But I just can't leave him alone like this…" Oz whispered shakily. "I-It was because of me that this h-happened...if something h-happens to him again…"

Oz then started sobbing again, making her unable to finish her sentence. Seeing the despair on her face, Phantom hugged her. For young Oz to see a dear friend struck down in cold blood and left nearly dead, he was sure it traumatized her.

"No, it wasn't your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself…" Were all Phantom could offer as words of comfort. He was disappointed in himself for not being able to offer much else.

Phantom then released Oz from his hug. "And he won't be alone. He'll have me, Neinheart and all of us watching over him. So in the meantime, rest. Rest so you can have the energy to watch over him until he wakes up. I'm sure Hawkeye wouldn't want to see you in such poor condition either."

"But-"

"Oz. Please do so while I'm asking. Don't let me make this an order."

Tearfully bowing to Phantom, Oz slowly retreated to her own chambers. Turning to Hawkeye, Phantom focused his attention on the knight, hopeful for any involuntary muscle movement. The silence in the room is deafening, as it reminded him of how much he missed Hawkeye's chipper attitude. Whenever Phantom was feeling down, Mihile and Hawkeye always made it their duty to cheer up the emperor. Mihile with positivity, and Hawkeye with laughter. The both of them always made it a competition between themselves to see who was better at making the emperor's days brighter, and although Hawkeye's attempts weren't always successful, Phantom always let out at least a small chuckle at his antics.

But right now… with Mihile busy with his own knights, Phantom needed Hawkeye more than ever.

He then started to wonder whether or not Hawkeye was playing a prank on everyone. Perhaps the knight was waiting for an opportunity to catch everyone by surprise, telling them it was an act all along. If it was a prank, it was a pretty cruel one.

"This can't be some kind of prank, can it?" Phantom whispers to the sleeping knight.

Hawkeye doesn't even stir.

* * *

"Hmm…" There was something strange with the jewel. For some reason ever since she had retrieved the jewel, it had stopped glowing. Aria was sure that while it was in the in the Emperor's hand, the amethyst jewel glowed and sparkled. Yet, while it was in hers, it did none of those things. All it was was a normal jewel made from amethyst often found in Ariant. The gold chains and embroidery were not anything special either. Was this really the jewel that was so special to the emperor?

"Hmm…"

No, why was she even doubting anything? Of course this jewel had more value than that! Even the emperor favored it! But she still had to check. She then headed to the intelligence deck to get confirmation. If there were anyone who knew it best, it would be Colette and Christianne.

"Guys, I need your help."

The two intelligence gatherers looked up from their computers and adjusted their glasses as their master came into view.

"Is there something the matter, boss?" they asked.

"Oh, it's nothing too big. Here, take a look at this." she said, taking out the Emperor's jewel.

"The Skaia?! You've already obtained it?! Why didn't you tell us anything? We need to celebrate!" Aria's maid, Marianne said, walking in with a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Marianne. But the celebration can wait. Anyway you two, do you notice anything strange about this jewel?" Aria asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"Nothing of the sort. It's probably the only one of its kind. Why?" they asked.

"I thought so as well. Can both of you put up one of the pictures of the Skaia please?"

Although skeptical, the two did as they were told. After pressing a few buttons, a high quality picture(secretly taken by the lumiere of course) of the emperor sitting in the moonlight holding his jewel came into view. After examining the picture a little more and examining the jewel in front of them, the two then came to a realization.

"Is it because the jewel isn't glowing? Or Sparkling?" They asked.

"Bingo. It's easy to see that it glows because of the night sky serves as the background, but it hasn't glowed at all lately."

"Is it perhaps because this jewel might be a fake?"

"Unlikely. It's as you two said, this jewel is probably the only one of its kind. Something tells me it's the emperor himself who plays a part in this. I'm 99% sure of it."

"So what will you do, madam?" Marianne asked, pouring her master another cup to tea.

"What indeed…?"

Seems like it was time to pay the emperor another visit.

* * *

Phantom took a deep breath as he stepped outside and into the moonlight. After a few hours of watching over Hawkeye, Eckhart had volunteered to take over his place. As of now, all of the knights, save for Eckhart, had retired to their chambers to get themselves some rest. For Phantom though, there were too many worries on his mind for him to be at peace enough to rest. What was he to do when the Black Mage returned? With the Black Mage seemingly gaining in power, war was imminent. How would he be able to ensure the safety of millions when one commander was already enough to bring more than half of Ereve's army to its knees?

His hands reflexively went to his waist, searching for the jewel that always reminded him of his family and gave him comfort.

"Ah…"

He had forgotten it wasn't there anymore. How depressing, to lose a family gift to a thief...how would he be able to face them now?

He sighed again, lost in his thoughts and all alone.

Suddenly, a glowing card found itself lodged on the hand railing. Taking the card and examining it, he found a drawing of a woman on one of its sides. A woman he had seen before. Turning in the direction the card was thrown, he saw her with her signature raven-like hat.

"It is an honor to be in your presence, your majesty." She said in a mock accent as she bowed. "Hope you didn't miss me _too_ much."

* * *

**After rereading the previous chapters I had written for this story, I cringed oh so very hard. In fact, I laughed at myself so hard for writing such abominations. Soooo, what this means is that the previous chapters will go through a series of edits. Not only that, but I am aiming for the next chapter to be about some of the Chief Knights before they became Chief Knights, so stay tuned for that I guess (might be a while though, college really knows how to suck the life out of you). Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	9. Revelation

**Okay, okay, I lied about what I had said in the previous chapter. I already had this chapter planned out and 60% written when I had uploaded the previous chapter so I didn't want to leave this unfinished while I was going through rewrites. So I'll say now that in the NEXT chapter will we have some background on the knights and before that, I'll be rewriting/editing previous chapters now that I'm done with this one.**

**Anyway, please read and review! You can be harsh in your reviews if you want, it'll help me become a better writer.**

* * *

She'd be lying if she said that his chuckle towards her bow didn't irk her in the least. True, the intentions behind her bow were anything but honest, but she half expected a better reaction than that. Seeing him chuckle only reinforced her original image of him: an arrogant and cocky bastard who thought he was doing the world a favor.

"You know, you might want to do yourself a favor and fix that attitude of yours. If I was more annoyed than I am currently, I easily could have stripped you of all your belongings. Don't think that I won't next time." She warned.

To her surprise, the Emperor looked surprised at her outburst.

"Did I come off as condescending? My apologies." he said, turning back to look into the distance.

…

Okay, this time Aria was getting more than just irritated. What did he take her for?

Before she could start her outburst, the emperor spoke up.

"It's certainly not rare for me to get visitors in the night. Thieves especially, but you're a special case. After all, you have already stolen something important from me. So what is it that made you come back to the victim? Surely it can't be just for a friendly talk can it?"

"Indeed. Although it might not be friendly, I was still hoping we could have a chat. Specifically regarding the item you hold so dear." Aria replied, grabbing out the Skaia and spinning it by the ring."

Once again, to her surprise, the Emperor only smiled and complied.

"Well then, ask away. I have time. Though I'd appreciate it if you didn't spin it around as much. The Skaia is more fragile than it looks."

At that comment Aria ceased her spinning of the jewel immediately. Not because he asked, but because she didn't want to break a valuable jewel of course.

"You know…"Aria couldn't help but ask. "You're being awfully calm today. Especially after you had something precious stolen from you. Why is that? Does this jewel mean so little to you?"

The emperor then sighed as if he had been answering the same types of questions throughout his life.

"Well, for one, it's late at night. I'm more exhausted than I am angry. Two, even if I was angry and demanded it back, the likelihood of you actually doing so is very low if not nonexistent. And three, even if I were to call for help from my knights, I know you're more than fast enough to evade them before they can get ready. So at this point, the only thing I can do is answer your questions, right? Don't get me wrong, the Skaia is very valuable to me and I'd appreciate it if you didn't break it, but I also know that my authority doesn't really affect you. I'm left with very little choice at this point. As much as it pains me to say it, you have the upper hand."

How many times was this man going to surprise her? She'd probably never know, but she had to admit that out of all the royalty she had the pleasure of stealing from, the emperor no doubt had the most wit and personality. She almost felt bad for stealing from him. Almost.

"Well, you could just make an attempt, right?" She asked.

"Come now, you and I both know I'm not fast enough to do so. Remember our first meeting? I could hardly stand up to you. I'd also rather not experience being jabbed in the guts again, thank you. Anyway, ask away."

Yup, definitely better than many of her past victims. It was almost weird how easy it was to talk to him.

"Fine. Well then I have many, so prepare yourself. One: Does your Skaia glow? Two: If it does, why does it only glow when in your hands? And Three: Could you stop smiling at me like that? It's really pissing me off."

To her ire, the emperor only laughed out loud to her questions. Not willing to take it any longer, she held her cane at the ready.

"Whoa there! Wait wait! Sorry about that it's just…" the emperor then suddenly paused.

"Just…?" she asked.

"I didn't expect you to be so curious about it. If anything, it's a rather trivial matter." he replied.

"'Trivial matter'?" Aria scoffed. "A jewel that glows? Dear Emperor, you really are a spoiled brat just like the other aristocrats, aren't you?" The emperor looked slightly hurt at her comment. "You don't realize how rare it is for a jewel to glow naturally and how valuable it can be to its holders."

"But that's precisely what it is though. A trivial matter." The emperor then scratched his head. "Well...this is rather embarrassing, but...when I was young, I wanted the Skaia to be recognized as the emperor's jewel. As a result, Shinsoo connected me to the Skaia, therefore causing the jewel to shine when it's in my hands or at least somewhat close to me. But by itself, it's just a jewel that my family made from amethyst you can find in my hometown. If you were to sell it off, you wouldn't get much money from it. I mean, not as much as you probably get from your...'heists' that is."

So that was what it was. It only glowed in the hands of the emperor. That meant that it was practically a useless jewel in the hands of another. Aria then sighed in disappointment, now knowing she had wasted so much time and effort. She'd have to reprimand the rest of her crew for misinformation later. But regardless, it was still certainly beautiful with its shape and decorations. Maybe she'd keep it.

"But now that I have answered your questions, will you answer some of mine?" Phantom asked.

Aria scoffed even louder. "I don't really think you're in a position to make any requests, dear emperor."

"That may be true, but will you at least hear me out? You can choose whether or not to answer my questions."

Aria pondered it for a moment. The man had been full of nothing but surprises ever since she had come. While it was dangerous for her to stick around any longer, since it was late at night, it'd probably take a while for the knights to gear up and catch her, giving her more than enough time to escape. Plus, even she had to admit to herself that there was more she wanted to know about the man.

"Fine. Just don't expect many answers."

"You have my gratitude. Well then, let's start! Ooohhh…" the emperor breathed in, "I'm getting a little nervous here, interviewing a celebrity."

"Just hurry and get on with it." she sighed, although slightly flattered she was labelled as a celebrity.

"Alright then, first question. What do you steal for? Money? Fame? Entertainment? What is it that drives you to steal?"

"I steal because I can. Next question."

The emperor nodded as if expecting nothing more.

"Second question. Based on the way you dress, you seem to have more than enough money to live until you're old. Why do you continue to steal to this day? Why don't you just retire and relax?"

"Because I don't want to. Any more questions?" She asked.

"Just one more. You know, there's something about you that strikes me. You give off an impression of someone so powerful and sneaky that you can just steal whatever you want from anyone and not get caught. But your eyes, they tell me something different. It's as if you're hiding something. As if there was something or someone who _made _you want to steal."

For some reason, Aria could feel herself boiling. She knew it was just a question, but what did he know? Oh so he looked into her eyes and that's what he saw?

"That is none of your business." She said with as much venom as she could. "Now that I've answered your questions, how about you answer one more of mine?"

The emperor looked like he still had some more questions to ask, but nonetheless complied.

"Of course." he nodded.

"Do you enjoy your job?" she asked.

For a while there was silence, and the emperor looked as if he didn't answer her question.

"What I mean is…" Aria couldn't help but sigh at the emperor's ignorance. "Do you enjoy doing what you do? You know, looking over the world and trying to keep the peace? Trying to appease each and every person in this world? It must be tiring right? Trying to be selfless and giving away so much time to do the impossible. Time that you could've spent on yourself. Seems like as an emperor, you're not allowed to live for yourself anymore. And no matter how hard you try, there will never be world peace. Greed and desire are the two main things that create conflict and are the two main things you can never erase from people's hearts."

The emperor was silent for a moment, as if he just had a revelation about the way he was living his life. But barely after a few seconds, he smiled more softly and looked down from the balcony.

"Well, I'd hardly think of this as a 'job', but I'm afraid you have me all wrong, Madam Aria. Never in my life have I been selfless. Everything I've done as an emperor from when I was young until now, has been for selfish purposes."

Hah. Of course he...wait what? Did she hear that correctly?

"Come again?" She asked.

"It's as I said. Everything I've done as an emperor has been for myself. Others benefiting from my actions is only a byproduct of my selfishness. To see so many people smiling together, laughing together, working together, and living in harmony together...it reminds me of my family, and there's no words for the amount of joy it brings me. Everything I've done from when I was first crowned emperor to now was to preserve that joy." Aria then noticed that the emperor was staring at her. Thanks to the moonlight, she was finally able to take a good look at him. Straight, combed, blonde hair; a smooth nose and face, light skin, and eyes the same color as the Skaia. "It's true that I may never be able to erase the world's greed and desire, but you know what? Maybe I don't need to. Maybe all I need to do is try to have their desires align with one another. For people to be greedy for world peace and happiness for themselves along with those around them...I believe such a day will come someday. And I want to be there to see it." The emperor then chuckled lightly, almost embarrassed that he had said something so cheesy.

"You...really love this world and its people don't you?" Aria deduced.

"I do. And I don't think I'll ever stop." To see the emperor smile so warmly while looking out in the distance, a certain feeling wrapped itself around Aria, although she didn't know what.

"Sorry…"

Aria blinked. Did the emperor just apologize to her?

"For what?" She couldn't help but ask.

"I know my actions have been selfish. Right now the world is in danger and here I am just talking about my dreams when I could be working on battle plans or something else of the sort." the emperor replied.

"You realize I have nothing to do with this, right? Nothing you say or do really affects me and my way of life."

"Perhaps. But you are apart of this world like everyone else, and it's my duty as emperor to watch over everyone. You included."

This man...he was different. He wasn't like the men she had stolen from or had grown up around.

"Here." Aria said, tossing the emperor his Skaia.

"Ack!" The emperor then fumbled a bit before securing the Skaia within his grip.

Aria chuckled a bit before turning to leave.

"Ah wait!"

"Hm?"

"Why?" she heard him ask.

"Because it's useless to me. But don't misunderstand, I don't plan on permanently leaving without taking something from this place. I'll see you later." With a snap of a finger, cards flew around Aria and she disappeared.

"Ah wait! Ah...she's gone." As he gripped the Skaia in his hands, Phantom could feel the warmth leftover from the Master Thief's hands.

* * *

Aria always knew her crew was full of workaholics, so it was surprising for her to see the majority of the lights in the Lumiere turned off, save for the one in her room. Walking through her ship's halls, she noticed several doors that were often left open closed shut. Well whatever, even she knew her crew needed their hours of sleep. What she needed now was a drink and some rest. She sighed, heading down to one of the many refrigerators she owned and grabbed herself a bottle of cold water to drink. Feeling refreshed, she headed back to her room and changed into her sleeping attire, leaving the rest of her clothing to the side. She'd tidy up later.

"Stupid Emperor…" Wait, why was she mad again? All he did was ask questions, right?

No, it was more than that, he, for whatever reason, annoyed her. Ugh, she'd think about the rest later. Now she just needed some rest.

* * *

Phantom sighed, finally realizing how exhausted he was from the day's events. Slowly walking back to his chambers, he laid on his bed uncaring of his posture and the fact that all of his clothes were still on and closed his eyes. Before he could drift off however, he found himself thinking back to the recent events. However, he found himself focusing more on his company, namely, Aria the Master Thief herself. With her long blonde hair flowing in the moonlight; smooth, light skin; and aqua eyes that reflected the beauty of Ariant's oases...

_Heh, it's a shame we're against each other. Aria the Master Thief...she's quite charming._

* * *

"Madam Aria, please! Take a seat!"

The next morning, for some reason after being pushed to the meeting room, Aria found all of her crew gathered in one place similar to how civilians would discuss rumors. Surprisingly, Gaston pulled out a chair and ushered her to take a seat. Hesitantly sitting down, she examined each and every one of their crew members, all looking like they had a myriad of questions to ask. Although some looked like they held more mischevious intentions.

"What's the meaning of this?" She asked.

"Well whatever do you mean?" Renault asked, "We're just curious about how our boss's day went. Or night I should say."

"...I have no idea what you're talking about." Aria curtly replied.

"Oh come on!" Colette exclaimed. "You just spent the night at Ereve with the Emperor, didn't you?! You're not leaving until you tell us everything!"

So this was what it was all about, huh? They had thought she and the emperor had spent the night together romantically.

"I just asked for clarification about the Skaia. Turns out it's completely useless. That's all. With that said, I'll be going now." Aria then rose from her chair to leave, only to be blocked by her crew.

"Now, now, boss! Are you really telling us that's all you did?" Christiane asked, giving her a wink. "The emperor is quite charming, don't you think?"

At that comment, Aria's cheeks turned red. "E-Excuse you?!"

"But of course," Gaston chimed in, "Since our master is a thief, it wouldn't be a surprise if she took something else other than the Skaia. Perhaps something more dear to the emperor."

While the crewmembers all widened their eyes at the sudden realization, Aria's face then flushed a deeper shade of red, both from embarrassment and anger.

"Gaston...one more word from you...and that will be a fifty percent pay cut to everyone in the crew!"

…

Satisfied at everyone's silence, Aria promptly exited the room.

Hurriedly closing her door, Aria buried her face in her pillow. What in the world in they take her for? Just because the emperor had some nice feature doesn't mean she would just…

Aria flushed harder at the images and ideas that popped into her head.

* * *

**Alright then, time to start editing.**


End file.
